Business
Student Leader Seeks Protection For S’African Firms In Nigeria
The Federal Govern
ment has been urged to keep an eye on Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN), DSTV, GoTV and other telecommunication outfits belonging to South Africans as to prevent possible attack by Nigerian youths following the unrest in the southern African country.
The President, Law Students Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN), Rivers State University of Science and Technology Chapter, Comrade Okanezi Endurance, said this in an interview with newsmen lastTuesday in Port Harcourt.
He said the call became imperative due to the level of maltreatment meted out to Nigerians and other nationals in South Africa.
Endurance, argued that the likely hood of attacking the aforementioned telecommunication facilities was high since they are owned by South African operators.
He said another reason for the call was to prevent the country from experiencing network failure since MTN was one of the major network provides in the country.
The LAWSAN president said that urgent moves must be made towards securing the facilities of these firms.
“If Nigerian youth attack MTN and other network service providers from South Africa, the international community may come in, and it is not the best thing for us now” he said.
He regretted that Nigerians could be treated in such hostile manner by fellow Africans saying that such should not have happened following the level of diplomatic under- standing between the two countries.
The lawyer in making, also called on the international community, to clamp down on the Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelitehini, the alleged main factor of the crisis and bring him to book.
Earlier, he had called on MTN operators not to harbour any form of fear as their operations are protected in the country.
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.
