Business
Adopt Approved Building Code, Says RSG
In a bid to check the menace of collapse building in the state, the Rivers State Government has urged stakeholders in the building industry to partner government in sensitising property developers on the need to adopt the approved building code.
The Rivers State Commissioner for Housing, Marshall Stanley Uwom gave the charge on Tuesday while addressing stakeholders in his office in Port Harcourt.
According to him, it is the responsibility of the ministry to formulate and implement housing policies for the state and has provided a building code that stipulates bench marks and minimum acceptable standards in building pre-design, construction and post construction stages of all housing/building construction projects.
The state code, he said is in line with the National Building Code which was adopted in January 2006 and launched by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007.
He said the need for the code arose following the inflow of quacks in the building industry, use of substandard materials, poor supervision at the construction sites, greed, lack of adherence to standards, lack of professionalism and ignorance of the regulatory Building Code.
The commissioner assured that the code, when implemented, would regulate standards and building framework, noting that it has become imperative for empowerment and stakeholders in the building and construction industry to form synergy to create the required public awareness, also sensitise the public and stakeholders in the task ahead, as this present government believe in consultation and stakeholder participation.
He commended the work carried out by the Committee on the Rivers State Building Code.
The chairman of the committee on Building Code Barr. Ovunda Orji announced that there will be a stakeholders conference by next year on building. The aim, he said, is to collate ideas and contributions for achieving a standard building code for the state.
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.
