Business
IFC Africa Investment Hits $1.82bn
The International Fi-nance Corporation (IFC) has committed %1.8 billion to various developmental projects in Africa this year.
In a statement issued ahead of the World Bank Group’s President’s visit to Africa this week, IFC said the figure was considerably higher than the $445 million voted in 2005.
The President, Robert D. Zoellick, is visiting Africa this week to encourage investor and donor support for the world poorest continent so as to cope with the global economic crises.
According to the bank statement, Zoellick will be visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
The statement reads in part: “World Bank group President, Robert D. Zoellick, begins a three-nation African tour to encourage investor and donor support to help the world’s poorest continent cope with the global economic crisis.
“During the visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, Zoellick will see up-close some of the damage the financial crisis has wrought on these three countries of African’s Great Lakes region.”
Ahead of his trip, the statement added, the World Bank President will encourage investors to take advantage of investment opportunities that continue to beckon from Africa, despite the crisis.
Opportunities, Zoellick said, exist in African countries still mired in, or emerging from conflict, such as DR Congo, post-genocide countries such as Rwanda, and relatively stable countries such as Uganda.
“Some of the biggest gains in fighting poverty in Africa can be made if investor and donors boost support for agriculture, helping Africa achieve food security, while improving rural incomes and facilitating post-harvest marketing, conservation and agricultural processing,” Zoellick said.
The funding most urgently needed should help expand Africa’s share of global and intra-African trade, foster regional integration, curb armed conflicts and build the crucial infrastructure in energy, transport and irrigation to promote manufacturing and industrialisation on the continent, he added.
The World Bank Group support for Africa is mainly provided through the International Development Association (IDA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC). IDA provides grants and low-interest loans to the world’s 79 poorest countries, half of which are in Africa.
IDA has over the last year committed more resources than initially planned in order to help African countries cope with the negative effects of the global crisis.
IFC provides investments and advisory services to build the private sector in developing countries.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.