Business
Political Risk Threatens FG’s ERGP -Expert
An economist, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, yesterday identified political risk as a major threat to the successful implementation of government Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
Uwaleke, the Head of Banking and Finance, Nasarawa State University, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
“Indeed, numerous other vulnerabilities remain but the biggest threat to the ERGP, in my view, is the political risk that received no mention under the section.
“Nigeria’s experience over the years has shown that implementation of development plans suffer neglect whenever there is a change in government.
“The political will argument holds water only in the context of stability in government when the conceiver (the President) is in office throughout the Plan period.
“This condition is necessary for the success of the National plan,’’ he said.
According to Uwaleke, a review of key economic variables over the years indicated that the penultimate and ultimate election years affect economic performance.
The economist said that government spending usually increased in an election year, adding that this usually fuels inflation rather than encourages growth.
He said that in 2011 and 2015, Nigeria’s inflation rate increased due to high expenditure associated with the elections.
The economist said that the forthcoming 2019 election posed a threat to the ERGP’s goal of subduing inflation to single digit level by 2020.
He said that the success of the ERGP would depend not only on its implementation but also on the commitment of the succeeding administration to see it through to the terminal year.
Uwaleke, however, suggested that the country needed an enabling law to back up the ERGP.
He said, “The idea of setting up a Delivery Unit in the Presidency to assist the Ministry of Budget and National Planning in overseeing the ERGP implementation is good but not sufficient.
“If the Delivery Unit is not a creation of the Law, it lacks the capacity to discharge its duties.
“To this end, the Federal Government as a matter of urgency, should forward a Bill to be known as the ‘’Economic Recovery and Growth Bill’’ to the National Assembly.
“The Bill should take care of all issues specific to the ERGP distinct from the current Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 which focuses on annual budgets and the three year Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
“ The government has barely one more year to prove that the ERGP will not go the way of its forebears.
“ One of the key deliverables of the Plan is to reduce petroleum product imports by 60 per cent in 2018.
“Therefore, putting in place an enabling law and passing the Petroleum Industry Bill will safeguard the country against the major threat to the ERGP.
The Tide gathered that the Federal Government recently unveiled the ERGP, which contained the road map for Nigeria’s economic development.
The four-year plan (2017-2020) envisages that by 2020, ‘’Nigeria would have made significant progress towards achieving structural economic change with a more diversified and inclusive economy’’.
According to the plan, real GDP would grow by 4.6 per cent on average over the plan period while inflation rate would move to single digit by 2020.
The plan outlines initiatives such as boosting oil production to 2.5 million barrels per day by 2020, privatizing select public enterprises/assets and revamping local refineries to reduce petroleum product imports by 60 per cent by 2018.
Following the implementation of the plan, unemployment would reduce from 13.9 per cent as of Q3 2016 to 11.23 per cent by 2020.
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.
