Business
Customs Realise N16bn In Six Months
The Nigeria Customs Service Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command in Lagos collected about N16 billion between January and June this year, an official has said.
Speaking with newsmen at the airport, the Customs Service’s Area Controller, Mr. Michael Adewole, said that the amount represented 89.1 per cent of the command’s projection for the year. He added that the command had targeted N42 billion for the year.
‘The monthly revenue target of the command is about N3.5 billion at full operations of cargo and expected boost in flight operations at the airport,’’ the official said.
He gave the breakdown as N2, 035,721,956.51 for January, N2, 949,371,196.07 for February, N2, 518,289,989.86 for March, N2, 959,822,99 for April, N3, 267,477,290.28 for May and N2, 736,320,620.38 for June.
The controller assured that efforts had been made for the improvement of revenue generation for the command and he noted that the command had recorded relative achievement in the first half of 2011.
He, however, pointed out that with the deployment of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), the command had improved on its service delivery.
Adewole disclosed also that about 53 security items were intercepted during the period under review.
He listed the security items to include live bulletproof vests and jackets, helmets, hand gloves and military camouflage uniforms.
“We have also achieved a lot through the promotion of inter-departmental relationships among various security and aviation agencies, including the State Security Service and the Nigeria Air Force,’’ the official added.
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.