Business
FCTA Mini-Bus Drivers Get N500m Lifeline
The FCT Administration is to earmark N500 million to assist mini bus drivers in Abuja draw funds to buy new vehicles under a hire purchase scheme.
The Minister of the FCT, Sen. Bala Mohammed, said this on Friday in Abuja when he received the report of a Ministerial Committee on the Implementation of the Mini Buses Feeder routes and Traffic Regulations.
Mohammed, who received the report from the FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr Anthony Ozodinobi, said that the money would be drawn from the SURE-P allocation given to the FCT Administration.
“The FCTA has commenced an arrangement with some vehicle companies to provide new buses for the mini-bus drivers.
“This is one of the palliative measures that we are going to use to cushion the effect of restricting them on some routes in some parts of the city centre.
“We want them to be using new buses to convey people; most of the buses they are using are not good.
“I want all FCT Transport Unions to form one group in order to benefit from this opportunity,” he said.
He said that FCTA would also employ 10,000 conductors and put them on a monthly salary.
According to him, the ban on the tricycle (Keke Napep) from plying the Area one, Maitama and Asokoro roads was due to obstruction and traffic jam they cause.
Commenting on the ‘Pay and Display’ parking policy, the minister acknowledged that it had been violated by the concessionaires.
Mohammed said that the FCTA would soon review the scheme to make it amiable.
“We have received series of complaints and petitions against the unholy activities of some concessionaires.”
He said that the FCTA would present a bill to President Goodluck Jonathan for onward submission to the National Assembly, for the establishment of the FCT transport authority.
This, he said, would ensure an effective legal framework for future sustainability of transport policy.
He, therefore, gave another three weeks grace with effect from today to the mini bus drivers to put things in order, saying that the policy would take off soon.
Earlier, the permanent secretary, said that the committee recommended the introduction of palliative measures to cushion the effect of the policy on operators.
He also called for sustainable public enlightenment and sensitisation of the public to the new policy.
Also speaking, Mr Okorie Victor, the FCT Chairman, Self-Employed Commercial Drivers Association and Mr Umar Abubakar, Secretary, National Union of Road Transport Workers said the unions would support the policy.
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.
