Business
Expert Urges FG To Improve Tourism Facilities
The Managing
Director, HSSL Global, a Hotel Support Group, Mr Ayokunnu Olowoporoku, has urged the Federal Government to improve on tourism facilities across the country.
Olowoporoku told newsmen in Lagos that the upgrading of the nation’s tourism facilities would attract foreign investors.
“Developing the tourism sites will draw people from far and near to patronise the attraction which could be used to restore and strengthen Nigeria’s unity and economy.
“Adequate maintenance and upgrading of the nation’s attraction sites will make Nigeria a tourism destination in the World.
“Tourism development can serve as an avenue for job creation, youth empowerment and increase in foreign exchange earnings,’’ Olowoporoku said.
The director said that tourism related to all aspects of life and nature like water, environment, plants and other resources.
He also advised the Federal Government to protect and manage the nation’s resources and facilities effectively.
Olowoporoku urged Nigerians to imbibe the attitude of maintaining facilities, noting that most people patronise hotels and abuse their facilities due to their care-free attitude.
“Nigerians should support the maintenance of both government and private-owned facilities for national development,’’ Olowoporoku said.
He urged Nigerians to sanitise their environment for sustainable tourism development.
According to him, most Nigerians abuse the environment and are not conscious about hazardous substances.
“Nigerians should be conscious about environmental pollution, toxic substances, littering the environment, sharp objects and chemicals that can affect nature,’’ he said.
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.
