Business
Caterers, Traders Lament Low Business
The food business in
dustry has continued to experience low business patronage as prices of food stuff remain high inspite of steady supply of petrol.
Operators of the sector predict that the prices of commodities would remain high until the end of the Muslim fast, Ramadan.
They reasoned that since most food stuff come from North, Nigeria, food prices, especially grains tomatoes, onions and meat would remain high until the fast is over.
The Chief Executive Officer, Kimos Catering services Mrs Ekimene Osuyi, did not just blame the high cost of food stuff on the Ramadan, but said “there is general economic crunch in the country. Prices of food stuff were high even before the Ramadan, a bag of rice, which used to sell for between N10,000.00 and N12,000.00 now sells for between N17,500.00 and N18,000.
In short, everything is costly now we can hardly make profit in our business. There’s no money anywhere and so if you follow the cost of commodities to bill your clients, you won’t have any business, so what do we do, reduce bill to the barest minimum,” She added.
She called on government to put palliative measures in place to help cushion the effect of the harsh economic crunchy like providing soft loans for small and medium scale business, if that is not done there will be serious crisis in the country, not just food shortage, crime and violence will increase, already you can notice that in the rate of kidnap in the state.
On his part, the Secretary of the Market Traders Association of Nigeria, Creek Road market chapter, Chief Ndubusi Onu, noted that part of the reason for the increase in food prices, was the hike in transportation occasioned by the increase in the pump price of petroleum products coupled with the non-payment of salaries, “civil servants are our main stay in this buying and selling business.”
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.