Business
Expert Lists Measures To Tackle Power Problems
Prof. Adeola Adenikinju of
the University of Ibadan, has identified diversification of energy sources, decentralisation of electricity transmission and review of relevant electricity acts as measures to tackle challenges in the power sector.
Adenikinju who is the Director, Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law in the university, said this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
He said that it was unfortunate that the millions of dollars invested in the sector had not translated into the provision of adequate electricity for the people.
“We need to diversify more the sources of our power generation; licences have been issued for other alternative sources, but those alternative sources are not being developed.
“We have coal; we have renewable and many of them are not been look into why?
“We need to look at decentralised options like micro hydro, pico hydro, solar, renewable energy.“
He said it was important for government to review the electricity power reform act 2005 in line with international best practice of electricity value chain.
He also suggested the decentralisation of electricity transmission in the country, given the vast nature of electricity users in the country.
“ We need to re-visit our transmission act of the electricity value chain; people have suggested that why don’t we decentralise it; we can decentralise it, this is a very big country.
“The transmission lines are radial; they are designed such that if there is any break in transmission in any part of the country, the other part of the country will be affected. “
He called for regional decentralisation of transmission through the inclusion of private sector participation to boost electricity transmission in the country.
“If you generate, you don’t have the capacity to transmit what have been generated, then you are as good as not generated anything.
“But if we allow decentralisation, then we can allow the private sector to come in the process of transmitting also.“
He said it was relevant for distribution companies (DISCOs) to have an accurate data of electricity consumers under their jurisdiction.
He explained that non availability of accurate statistics on the users of electricity was responsible for the high losses recorded by the distribution companies.
“There are many customers that are not currently being captured because they are not captured and have resulted to lot of losses.“
He said that losses were possible due to people who were connected to electricity without making payment for their consumption.
The expert said that the losses were resulting in the non recouping of investment by the DISCOs.
This, he said, was reducing their capacity to invest in infrastructure needed for electricity distribution.
Adenikinju said that it was important for all the DISCOs to meter all their customers, adding that metering would encourage the consumers to pay their electricity bills and conserve energy.
“Metering also is very important; if you don’t meter houses and you give them bills that are very high, they are tempted to cheat in electricity payment.
He called on government to ensure that private operators in the sector did not operate under a harsh economic environment, adding that provision of incentives would encourage entrepreneurs to invest in the sector.
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.
