Business
NACCIMA Tasks Govts On Budget Implementaion
Governments at all levels have been urged to exercise fiscal discipline in implementing yearly budgets with priority attention paid to infrastructural development and provision of incentives to support exports and business growth.
The call was made by the National President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr Herbert Ademola Ajayi, in his address presented by his representative, Azuka Alagwu, at the official opening of the 7th Port Harcourt International Trade Fair at Isaac Boro Park, Port Harcourt.
He said that the theme of the fair “Advancing New Prospects for SME Growth and Economic Development in Rivers State” reveals that the effort of government in repositioning the various sectors of economy and the polity, calls for joint identification of new projects, execution/implementation and monitoring by both the public and private sectors if positive results must be achieved.
The NACCIMA boss commended the Federal and State governments for assiduously working in partnership with the private sector in advancing new prospects for SMEs through an integrated national development strategy that will serve as stimulating force for an enhanced sustainable socio-economic growth and development, noting that the private sector displays a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness in the management of material and human resources.
According to him, the issue of commercialisation, privatisation and liberalisation of the economy must be vigorously pursued in order to pave away for the private sector to take over the core sector and provide the needed impetus for business and the economy to grow.
He advised government that the proposed de-regulation of the downstream sector of he economy should be better done after the necessary infrastructural development – good roads, adequate power supply potable water, improved telecommunications, security of life and property etc, have been put in place and new refineries built to ensure availability of petroleum products.
Ajayi opined that for Nigeria to achieve the quest to become one of the twentieth industrialised economies in the world by the year 2020 the synergy between the public and private sectors must be sustained to boost business activities and growth of the economy, especially consultation on policy formulation and implementation that would attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
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.
