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Embassy Tasks SON On Quality Exports
As Nigerian workers want the payment of the new minimum wage which bill was passed recently by the senate, Senator Wilson Ake has appealed to traders and service providers not to increase prices in order not to make things difficult for workers and frustrate government’s intention.
Senator Ake who made the appeal in an interview with The Tide at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa said although Nigeria is operating a free economy, people should show understanding and not to hike the prices of goods and services because workers’ salaries are increased.
He said: “This is a free economy, what we have to do is to plead with the people themselves to understand that they cannot continually increase prices of commodities and services just because salaries are increased for workers.”
The lawmaker who represents Rivers West Senatorial District in the National Assembly advised the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to discuss with the various transport and trader unions on how to ensure that prices of goods and services are not hiked, pointing out that the benefits of the new minimum wage will be enjoyed by all Nigerians.
According to him, the bill may be signed into law by the middle of March after the senate and House of Representatives versions are harmonised and presented to the president adding that the payment of the new wage will take effect from the day it will be signed into law.
“The minimum wage bill is passing through a process. The House of Representatives has to pass its versions and after that, there will be harmonisation with that of the senate and reconciled before sending it to Mr President. It has to pass all the processes to become a real law because if you skip any of the steps then it will not be a law, so it requires some patience for the proper thing to be done and for it to be a law that will be respected,” he stressed.
Senator Ake enjoyed workers to be patient and believe that government has good intentions for them, saying that the work Employee Compensation law recently passed is an additional effort of government at ensuring that workers are protected and given all the respect, responsibilities and benefits they deserve.
He then urged workers to support the President Jonathan-led administration which, according to him, “has shown so much concern for workers.”
Shedie Okpara
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.
