Business
Terminal Operator Commissions N20bn Equipment At Tincan Port
PORTS & CARGO Handling Services Ltd, a subsidiary of Sifax Group and operators of Terminal C in Tincan Island Port has commissioned over N20 billion new Rubbers Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes and mobile harbour crane.
The Commissioning was performed by the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Habib Abdullahi who was represented by Mallam Mohammed Bulangu, General Manager, NPA Western ports.
The Managing Director, Ports and Cargo Mr. John Jerkins, said that the new acquisitions by the company would boost its service delivery to the entire shipping community, in particular, and the Nigerian economy, as a whole.
He explained that late last year, “we placed an order for 10 numbers of these RTGS, and the five numbers we have here today, represent the first batch, while the remaining five units will arrive at this terminal in the next one month”. We can tell you with modesty that these equipment are brand new, not refurbished or Tokunbo.
“Today’s commissioning of this equipment is in tandem with our vision of achieving excellence in all areas of our operations which also lays credence to the success story of the federal government’s policy of ports privatization assuring importers/exporters, liners and shipping community of a robust, faster and effective service delivery with the new equipment.
“it will interest you all that when we took over this terminal on May 11, 2006, it had a maximum space of a little above 5000 TEUS (Twenty-foot equivalent Units), with our continuous investments in the state of-the-art, equivalent, we have been able to double that figure and with this latest acquisitions, we will increase storage capacity in Ports and cargo to 17,250 TEUS within the next 12 months. This represents a 77 percent increase in storage capacity” he said.
Earlier, Senator John Shagaya said that the new equipment would add value not only to cargo delivery but to the nation’s economic, saying that the organisation has gone a long way to introduce software that would facilitate cargo delivery, which NPA and the ministry of Transport would want other investors to emulate.
He noted that the management had committed over N20billion to acquiring the equipment for the improvement of cargo operations.
He further explained that all the investment in the terminal were to prove that the choice of Ports and cargo by the government as the operator of the terminal was not an error.
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.