Business
Tougher Times Await Rice Smugglers, Traders -Customs
Smugglers and marketers of smuggled rice should prepare for tougher times ahead, the Nigeria Customs Service, yesterday.
NCS spokesman, Mr Joseph Attah, told The Tide source that the warning became necessary following complaints by the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria that the country had been flooded with smuggled rice.
He said the Comptroller-General of Customs, Rtd. Col. Hameed Ali, had read the riot Act to Customs officers in commanding positions to arrest the rot.
He said the officers were directed to ensure that rice smugglers and those who dealt in smuggled rice did not have any respite.
“Last week, the Comptroller-General summoned Comptrollers operating at land borders, Commandants of Federal Operations Units and those of the Strike Force at the headquarters to do the needful on rice smuggling,’’ her said.
Attah enjoined the rice processors to share the intelligence they had with the Customs so as to check activities of rice smugglers and other prohibited items.
He said this was the time the Service needed critical stakeholders in the value chain for collaboration and synergy to collectively fight the menace of smuggling.
He stressed that the collaboration and synergy would boost the morale of operatives who put their lives on the line to secure the borders, noting that the Service had lost officers and men in the course of the fight against smuggling.
“Customs will not claim that we have been able to completely wipe out smuggling of rice and indeed any other prohibited items.
“As long as there are human beings who are ready to cut corners; that are driven by selfish interests; driven by profit motives and all that, there will be some isolated cases of smuggling.
“We have some compatriots who are ready to serve as informants to smugglers. We are aware that some smugglers provide motorbikes and telephone handsets for some people in border communities.
“Those things are provided for informants to monitor the movement of our anti-smuggling operatives and to provide information as to where we are; where we are heading to and how some of these smugglers can safely sneak through.
“Those that have beaten the `watch-and-check’ are assisted by fellow Nigerians. That is the reason you find some smuggled items in the markets and that is why you see cases of raiding warehouses by our officers and men,’’ Attah explained.
He said that the Service had been engaging traditional rulers in border communities to be on the same page with the Customs in the interest of the country.
Attah also said Customs was committed to ensuring that the Federal Government’s policy on rice and other foods production succeed.
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.
