Business
Electricity: KELGA, OBALGA Residents Decry Poor Supply, High Bills
Electricity users in parts of
the State have called on the Federal Government to revisit the privitisation of the power sector as the people are yet to benefit from the system.
Some residents who spoke with The Tide Wednesday around Ikwerre Local Government (KELGA) and Obio/Akpor (OBALGA) said that the days of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) were better because people were already used to their nature of operation then.
According to them, the hand over of the power sector to private firms has not led to any improvement.
A frozen food seller who gave her name as Victoria Anokuru, said she is planning to relocate her business outside Rivers State as to enable her meet up with her family’s demands.
She noted that the current system of power supply in Ikwerre local government, especially Igwuruta axis was aapaulling, saying that something urgent ought to be done.
Anokuru, recounted with pains how she has continuously suffered losses in business due to poor power supply.
Another respondent whi is popularly known as “cutting master,” said that nothing much is happening in the barbing business any more, saying that he was fed up with the purchase of petrol (PMS) to power his generating set.
According to him, the daily purchase of petrol and high tenant fee was suffocating and could lead to business failure.
Others, lamented how the staff of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) kept sending exorbitant bills at the end of every month.
The most painful they said was the issue of sending different bills each month, wondering what the regulatory bodies in-charge of the power sector are doing.
Meanwhile a staff of the Igwuruta service unit of PHEDC, who pleaded anonymity, said that the company is planning seriously to ensure that consumers get the best of their services.
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.
