Business
Varsity, US Firm Partner On Solar Plant
The University of Ilorin is partnering with a United States company to build a 500 megawatts solar energy plant as part of efforts to tackle the challenge of power supply in Nigeria.
Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, disclosed this while speaking at a forum in Abuja at the weekend.
“The 500 megawatts is too much for the university alone to utilize, infact, we in the university require just a maximum of four megawatts.
“Which means the extra 496 megawatts would have to be given to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, either the immediate community or nationwide. I think that is what is being processed,” the don said.
He further disclosed that the institution had engaged in negotiation with various stakeholders who are going to be party to the consumption and payment of the 496 megawatts as the project is estimated to cost about $1.5 billion.
He said, “it is a heavy investment which means the company that is going to bring the 1.5 billion dollars, has to be convinced that it will recoup its investment.
“They (company) have made tremendous progress, they have talked to the government, they are talking with agencies of government and by the time they harmonise all these product of their discussion, I am sure they will take off and the government and Nigeria will now be the overall beneficiary of all those efforts.”
The Managing Director of the American company, Mr. Brian Travis said the selection of University of Ilorin as its partner was because the university had many reliable innovative projects.
Travis, who described the project as the largest solar plant in Africa; said it would help empower the locals in terms of employment and training.
“Most of us probably know there are difficulties with the whole power system in Nigeria. We will all like to have stable power.
“We also are not going to sell into the national grid but try to solve the problem by entering into direct contract with DISCOs; because of the location of Ilorin, we have direct access to six district DISCOs up and down the coast.
“Each of those DISCOs is determining how much of the power they want; they determine when they need the power, how they need it and how they are going to sell it.
“So we will be effectively dealing with the people who need the power, so that we do not have the supply chain issues that exist now and that is the reason we are doing the solar project here. It has got good solar radiation.
Travis described University of Ilorin as an excellent host in view of the innovative projects of the Vice Chancellor, and added that it would impact on the local people as the project would hire them as contractors and would train them in solar and renewable energy.
The Managing Director said the project would be completed in 18 months.
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.
