Business
Roads Construction ’ll Stabilise Economic Activities – Commissioner
Rivers State Government has said that the on-going roads construction and rehabilitation in the state are geared towards stablising economic activities in the state.
The State Commissioner for Works, Hon. Bethuel Harrison, made this declaration, Wednesday during his first project inspection for 2017 in Port Harcourt.
Harrison stated that in line with the governor’s initiatives in making Rivers State the economic hub of the nation, the government was ensuring that road constructions were carried out across the 23 local Government Areas of the State.
In a statement by the Press Officer of the Ministry, Miss Ednah Alete, the Commissioner was quoted as saying, that “major work will commence this year in all the LGAs of the state as part of the Governor’s Commitment in providing an enabling environment for investors”.
He also said, the road constructions would aid “decongesting the traffic situations affecting movement of goods and people within and outside the state.
The Works Commissioner expressed satisfaction with the quality of work done at the Ozuoba-Rumuoparaeli-Choba and the Tam David-West Roads, saying the contractor’s job on Ozuoba-Rumuoparaeli-Choba road as commendable and expressed the hope that Governor Wike would commission the roads before the end of January.
He also noted that the Tam David-West Road was progressing satisfactorily and was enthusiastic that the completion would be timely, while calling on commuters along the Obiri-Ikwerre and Airport axis of the roads to be patient, adding that the contractor would create an alternative thoroughfare to ease traffic on the Airport Road.
He declared that the Ministry’s 2017 budgetary allocation would go a long way in reducing traffic hiccups as well as boost economic activities in the state.
The Commissioner called on the Chief Resident Engineer of the Ministry in charge of various site supervision to ensure that they carry out thorough supervision of their sites and submit their reports promptly, and enjoined them to ensure the “contractors deliver jobs according to specification and on stipulated time.
Tonye Nria-Dappa
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.
