Business
Agency Tasks Power Contractors On Original Kits
The Managing Director, Nigeria Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Mr Peter Ewesor, has warned power sector contractors against use of substandard materials and equipment.
Ewesor gave the warning in an interview with newsmen, against the backdrop of frequent use of substandard electricity materials by power contractors.
He said that the agency had inaugurated an Electricity Installation Contractors Certification Panel (ZEICCP) office in Lagos to certify equipment used by contractors.
The managing director said that many lapses had been identified in the power sector and other workplaces where electricity was used in the area of electrical installation.
According to him, the substandard electricity materials have resulted to unstable power supply and fire incidences.
Others, Ewesor said, included design and construction failures, improper planning and execution of electricity projects, use of substandard materials and equipment and deliberate oversight of the procedures.
He said that those lapses were largely responsible for the networks getting into states of disrepair soon after they were commissioned for use.
“The safety, reliability, quality and efficiency of power supply to the populace largely depend on the quality of networks and systems that are built according to specification and standard.
“The utmost goal of NEMSA is to stamp out unqualified electrical installation contractors and bad electrical installations in Nigeria.
“This is to ensure the delivery of uninterrupted power supply to Nigerians, ensure safety of lives and property and take Nigerians out of darkness into light,” Ewesor said.
The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) was set up by NEMSA Act No.6 of 2015 to carry out the functions of enforcement of Technical Standards and Regulations, Technical Inspection.
The agency is saddled with testing and certification of all categories of electrical installations, electricity meters and instruments to ensure efficient production and delivery of safe, reliable and sustainable electricity power supply.
It also guarantees safety of lives and property in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry and related matters.
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.
