Business
NIPOST Reinforces Stamp Duties Act
The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has said that it is reinforcing the Stamp Duties Act of 1990 in order to enhance transparency in business transactions.
The Public Relations Officer, NIPOST, Port Harcourt Territorial Headquarters, Mr Godwin Akpan, disclosed this last Wednesday, in a chat with The Tide in is office in Port Harcourt.
Mr Akpan noted that transactions among businessmen are becoming more blurred adding that the reinforcement of the Stamp Duties Act would shade some light in the transactions.
He stated that the lack of sincerity in business transaction had resulted to court cases which he said the stamps in the past had helped to prove such cases.
In his words “by this act it means that once you transact a business, a stamp is affixed to the bought item just in case of some ugly developments tomorrow. These days there are cases even in the courts where people claim that they never bought such items. At this stage, the stamps come in.”
Mr Akpan explained that the Act would also encourage the presence of philatelic stamps irrespective of the time to further promote sincerity among businessmen and their transactions.
He revealed that the federal government had issued a circular to all territorial headquarters to that effect adding that the banks had been penetrated with the act and other sectors are yet to be effected.
“For now, we have succeeded in the banks. We are yet to reach other sectors and very soon, that will be done” he said.
The PRO Port Harcourt territorial headquarters further stated that NIPOST is devising every means within its power to bring postal services to the door post of the people.
He said that one of such ways is the introduction of post shops where people are engaged in postal services and delivery at their various places.
Mr Akpan said “we are also into post shops. People apply for the form with the sum of N500. Once the Area Postal Manager approves your form, you are given a post shop box.
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.