Business
FG Spends N45.89bn On 1,375 Rural Power Projects
The Federal Government of Nigeria has spent N45.89billion to complete a total of 1,375 rural power projects in various communities across the country in three years.
According to data obtained from the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), between 2020 and 2022, the Federal Government, through its REA, undertook the projects by growing the capacity of the national power grid, increasing the number of mini-grids, deploying solar home systems, and installing solar street lights.
“Capital projects in the last three years, 2020 – 2022, is 1,375 in number. Total projects cost is N45.89bn”, the REA stated in its 2022 Strategic Interventions report.
A breakdown of the projects indicated that the government was able to deliver an installed capacity of 238.4 megawatts to the national electricity grid during the review period.
It said a total of 476,800 households benefitted from this, as the installed capacity on the grid affected 2.38 million people, while the cost of this particular project was N19.11bn.
The report stated that a total of 67 mini-grids developed during the three-year period, provided 0.64MW of electricity to 657.14 households, comprising of a total of 3,290 persons, while N6.35bn was spent on this particular project.
The REA also provided 556 solar homes systems to support 2,780 people, at a cost of N1.03bn during the three-year period.
The Tide source further gathered that a total distance of 557.5km was covered with solar street lights provided by the agency at a cost of N17.96bn during the same period.
The report outlined REA’s interventions for the year 2022, in the delivery of capital projects, including the preliminary needs assessment and implementation framework for the 2022 electrification programmes.
It named the programmes to include the deployment of solar mini-grids (high-capacity productive use), solar water pumps (irrigation schemes) and solar home systems (low-capacity productive use) across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria.
“Before the strategic interventions, some of the baseline conditions and challenges of the beneficiaries included access to electricity and water, petrol consumption patterns, security conditions, employment conditions, gender inclusivity and major crops produced.
“After the interventions, an assessment exercise was then conducted to determine the social, environmental, and economic impact on the livelihoods in the beneficiary communities”, the report stated.
It stated that in 2022, six communities were equipped with a 100-kW solar mini-grid system.
“The systems were designed to prioritise productive users, including agro-processing businesses, homes, commercial users, as well as public spaces.
“Over 8,155 lives and 5,000 active farmers have been impacted with uninterrupted power supply and clean affordable water, translating to over 60 direct and indirect jobs created, improved security, increased productivity, improved healthcare, as well as the decommissioning of over 40 diesel and petrol generators.
“Based on the current and future estimations, the reductions in carbon emissions were also encouraging”, the agency said.
It continued that 1,392 irrigation solar pumps were distributed across the six geopolitical zones, reaching 1,300 male and 92 female beneficiaries, as well as about 200 farm clusters.
“Over 11,000 lives and 6,000 farmers (including about 810 female farmers) have been directly impacted. This impact has translated to the illumination of over 170 farms with solar street lights, the training of over 3,000 farmers on pump maintenance and new irrigation practices, and more importantly, cost savings”, the report stated.
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.