Business
GDP Rising, Inflation Falling, Yet Poverty Worsening – Rewane
The Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr Bismarck Rewane, has said Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product is rising and inflation rate is falling, but more people are living below the poverty line.
Rewane, a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, said this at this month’s edition of the LBS Breakfast Session in his presentation, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday.
The economic expert posed what he described as five tough questions for Nigerian policymakers.
He said, “Cheery news and angry people! Why? (Why is GDP up and income levels down?). Beans 122.22 per cent, pepper 100 per cent, flour 61.54 per cent but inflation falling! Wow! What is the truth?
“The best hedge against inflation? Real estate/equities/bitcoin or precious metals? Will the naira crash to N600/$ as BDCs scramble? Is the PIA (Petroleum Industry Act) going to make things better for us? 1. Petrol 2. Insecurity 3. New investments.”
The National Bureau of Statistics said recently that the country’s GDP grew by 5.01 per cent in the second quarter of this year as against 0.51 per cent in Q1 while inflation dropped to 17.38 per cent in July from 17.75 per cent in June.
Rewane noted that in Q2, out of 46 activities, 34 expanded, eight slowed and four contracted.
He said, “Fastest growing sectors were the most impacted by the [COVID-19] shutdown. They are job-elastic and have the potential to boost productivity.
“Real GDP (2.7 per cent) still below potential GDP (8.3 per cent). Economy still in a recessionary gap. Population (3.2 per cent) growing faster than GDP.”
Citing data from the World Bank, Rewane said seven million Nigerians fell into extreme poverty in 2020, adding, “Nigeria still the poverty capital of the world: 93.9 million people now live below the poverty line.”
According to him, people are angry because the socioeconomic conditions have worsened.
He said, “Youth unemployment fast approaching 45 per cent. Misery index, 50.68 per cent. Nigeria [is] a hunger alert hotspot, according FAO and WFP. Over 18,000 Nigerians seeking asylum. Health sector brain drain rising (e.g. about 500 doctors moving to Saudi Arabia).
“Positive GDP growth yet to have a significant impact on socioeconomic conditions. Strategic investment and increased stimulus in job-elastic sectors and elimination of leakages (misaligned exchange rate and subsidies) necessary to achieve sustained economic recovery and inclusive growth.”
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.
