Business
DMO Counsels On Islamic Banking
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has called for sustained campaign that will highlight the positive aspects of Islamic banking before a decision is taken on the initiative.
DMO Director General, Mr. Abraham Nwankwo, made the call recently in Abuja at the inaugural meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and DMO on alternative modes of financing infrastructure in the country.
Also present at the meeting were representatives of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) as well as other stakeholders.
“I will want to us to consider the possibility of summarising the approach to this special project along three lines, first the stage of knowledge and understanding, information, education, publicity.
“There is need for that at this initial stage; I believe that there must be a way of encouraging every Nigerian to know about this special product or funding. Knowledge and understanding should be first.
“The second stage should be a stage of taking decision and making a choice, knowing about the issues, product.
“Having known about all of them, we might come to the conclusion we want to consume all aspects of non interest banking or part of them,’’ he said.
Nwankwo, however, said decisions should be taken considering the environmental factors in the country, adding that government’s action must focus on the technical realities of the economy.
The realities, he said, involved political considerations and experience concerning the various reforms in banking and financing over the past 20 years.
“The realities of experience include the banking sector, community banking, micro finance banking and indeed the realities of what is currently happening in the banking sector, repositioning, restructuring of the banking sector.
“All these and the realities of what has happened in the capital market in recent days in Nigeria and the implications on the volatilities in the banking sector are also to be noted.
“These are the entire contest that will help us having known what non- interest banking is and to take a decision of the way forward,’’ he said.
Nwankwo said all these considerations must be analysed before moving to the implementation stage, adding that following these processes would enhance effective implementation of the initiative.
“We should be open minded about moving forward and the easiest way is for all us to commit to ourselves that there is nothing wrong in having full knowledge of this type of funding,’’ he said.
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.