Business
Foodstuffs Prices Soar In Abuja
Less than three weeks after the Eid Kabir festival, the prices of essential commodities, especially foodstuffs, have soared in the Abuja metropolis.
The survey was conducted on Wednesday at Wuse, Garki, Utako and Nyanya markets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as well as in Mararaba in Nasarawa State.
It showed that the prices of consumable items like yam, rice, palm oil, potato, beans and provisions have gone up by between five to eight per cent since the end of the festival.
For instance, at the Garki market, a 50kg bag of Royal Stallion brand of rice now sells for N9,000, as against the former price of N7,400.
The price of the Tomato brand of rice has also increased to N8,300 from N7,200.
The price increase also affected Mama Africa brand of rice, as its price has shot up from N7,200 to N8,100.
At Wuse market, a 50 kg bag of Gold Cap rice now sells for N9,500, as against the previous price of N9,200.
In all the markets visited, the price of yam has similarly increased, with a set of five big yams selling for N10,000, as against N6,000 some weeks ago, while a set of smaller yams now sells for N1,800, as against N1,600.
However, yam appears to be cheaper at Orange market in Mararaba, where a set of six large yams sells for N7,800, while the medium-sized variants go for N4,500.
Similarly, the price of “Garri’’, a popular staple food in the country, has also increased, with a 50kg bag being sold at N8,200, instead of N5,800.
At Utako market, the price of a 50kg bag of “Garri’’ has spiralled up to N10,000 from N7,500, its price a month ago.
A “Mudu’’(measuring bowl) of yellow “Garri’’ sells for N180, as against its former price of N150, while the price of the white variant has risen from N100 to N150.
However, the price of a 20-litre jerry can of palm oil varies at Wuse and Garki markets. At Garki market, it goes for N8,500, while at Wuse Market, it sells for N7,200, as against the previous uniform price of N6,150 a couple of months ago.
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.
