Business
Lufthansa Increases Frequencies On Resumption In PH
Lufthansa Airlines has resumed operations at the Port Harcourt International Airport in full force with an increased frequencies.
The German Airline which commenced its operations last Monday in a bigger and better form will be flying in and out of the Garden City four times weekly.
Speaking at a cock-tail party organised by the airline to sign its return operations to Port Harcourt, the General Manager South-East Nigeria, Mr Chuks Okobi assured that the airlines will not bring an aircraft that people will be afraid to fly in, adding that the airline is coming with the state of the arts Airbus 340-300 with three compartments.
Mr Okobi said the three compartments include firsts class, business class and economic class, explaining that the first class, explaining that the first class compartment has state of the arts, facilities, while economy has 165 seats.
According to him, “the good news for Nigeria is that all the passengers are entitled to two pieces of luggage no matter the class they are flying.”
He explained that passengers on economic class are entitled to two pieces of luggage with 23 kg each, stating that, it means each passenger is entitled to 46 kg luggage, while business and first class are also entitled to 33 kg each of a total of 64 kg free luggage allowances.
Mr Okobi however expressed appreciation to the airlines loyal passengers for their support even when the going was tough and turbulent and commended the Airport manager, Mr Uche Nwanguma for his support.
The General Ganager said passengers on board of Lufthansa Airline would be experiencing good and exceptional comforts while on air, adding that 1st class provides excellent services, getting comfort with adjustable seats.
He explained further that passengers have opportunity of listening to radio and watching movies on demand, with 30 local channels and other programmes with eight languages.
Lufthansa guarantees your trip and flight free boring. The airline has given extra movies to get the best catering service in the world, with cabin services, whereby passenger takes his meal at his own time.
Mr Okobi however explained tht the 3 programmes of Lufthansa Airline on board includes, state of the arts, free luggage allowance to passengers.
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.