Business
NPA Set To Boost Port Infrastructure
The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Usman, has promised to boost the nation’s economy through the provision of infrastructure and technologically up-to-date equipment at the ports.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos, she said that the Federal Government through the NPA, would reposition the ports industry to play its key role as the gateway to the nation’s economy.
Usman, who was represented by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Chief Michael Ajayi, spoke at the Executive Business Networking Seminar organised by NIMPORT in Lagos.
She said the government was making efforts to reposition the ports in line with global trends.
Usman directed all terminal operators to invest more in up-to-date equipment that would make the nation’s sea ports competitive and efficient.
She said that growth in trade volumes was a strong factor for port investment to boost efficiency, build robust, responsive and competitive port economy in line with global best practices.
“Development and upgrading existing port infrastructure as well as improvement in performance have become imperative,” she said.
Usman said the vision of NPA “is to be the leading port in Africa’’.
She said NPA would review in line with global best practices, the agreement the terminal operators entered into with the Federal Government before the ports were concessioned in 2006.
She said that in countries like North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, growing container markets had led to upgrade of the existing port infrastructure with container handling automation already put in place to handle large carriers with up to 18,000 TEUs (containers).
She said this became imperative because manually-operated Rubber Tyre Gantry (RTG) cranes were no longer suitable to handle huge volume of containers from one vessel.
Usman said NPA must lead in modernisation of equipment and infrastructure to respond to global trends in shipping business.
She thanked the organisers of the seminar for their steadfastness and consistency.
The managing director said this had gone a long way in fostering mutually beneficial business relationship between the government and the private operators in the maritime sector.
In another development, the NPA and the Port of Miami are collaborating to boost export and trade facilitation programme of the Federal Government.
The U.S. International Trade Coordinator, Department of Regulatory and Economy Resources (RER), Mr Desmond Alufohai and the Director, Government and International Relations (GIR) for Port of Miami, Ms Debra Owen met the NPA managing director.
The duo were in NPA to explore opportunities in the mineral resources and agricultural produce of the country.
Speaking during an interactive session with the NPA’s Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Usman, the visitors expressed their readiness to assist in the development and modernisation of infrastructure at the nation’s seaports.
The delegation also expressed their determination to partner the NPA in the area of compliance and efficient port system.
They promised to assist the country to boost the economy by harnessing the immense opportunities in the exportation of farm produce and mineral resources to America.
Usman appreciated their gesture and said the Federal Government was desirous of also partnering the port of Miami in the area of tourism.
The managing director also sought technological transfer in the area of standardisation of farm produce, its preservation and packaging to meet international standard.
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.
