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Cone rues absence of ‘best players’ after Gilas’ worst Asian Games

Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone acknowledged that it was not able to field the best team possible for its defense of the Asian Games gold that ended on a horrific note by missing a spot in the quarterfinals.

Cone and the Philippines’ bid to repeat their dream run three years ago ended on Monday with a 105-61 defeat at the hands of China, not only failing to win but also avoiding a loss of 38 points or more which would have been enough for them to get out of the group stage.

For Cone, the absence of some familiar faces for the Asiad affected Gilas.

‘Deeply disappointed we couldn’t get to the quarters,’ Cone said. ‘But it’s a reminder for us that if we don’t or can’t bring our best players to these international events, we won’t excel. We brought some really good players, but we didn’t bring our best players.’

Gilas was left to go with an all-PBA lineup with Kai Sotto and some of the B.League and Korean Basketball League players unavailable, alongside Cone’s reliables on his Gilas teams in recent Fiba windows.

Also hurting Gilas was the absence of a naturalized player, with Justin Brownlee unavailable at the last minute despite having a slot reserved for him and Bennie Boatwright still in the process of completing his citizenship process despite a naturalization bill lapsing into law.

‘It would have been nice to have Kai and AJ [Edu] and Q [Quentin Millora-Brown] and Mike Philips and Dwight [Ramos] and KQ [Kevin Quiambao] and Carl [Tamayo] and the like, but they weren’t permitted from their mother teams,’ Cone said.

‘We would have liked Justin and Bennie (or even Jordan Clarkson), but none were available, and it’s not an easy process to naturalize players like it is in other countries. Even June Mar [Fajardo] would have made an impact,’ he added.

Gilas went 1-2 in Group C, losing to Bahrain which had four naturalized players before getting its only win at the expense of Kazakhstan.

Rubis Kenya sales jump 18pc to Sh81bn on stronger fuel business

Rubis Energy Kenya’s revenue rose 17.8 percent to pound 541 million (Sh81.15 billion) in the first half of 2026, as stronger commercial activity lifted its business despite intense competition.

The French oil marketer’s Kenyan revenue increased from pound 455 million (Sh68.91 billion) in the first half of 2025, marking a sharper recovery in both reported sales and the local currency value.

Rubis attributed the latest performance to stronger commercial momentum and customer activity, with the biggest gains coming as its commercial and industrial business recorded higher margins in Kenya.

‘The Commercial and Industrial business (C and I, representing 33 percent of fuel volume and 30 percent of H1 fuel gross margin) increased by nine percent in volume. Margins increased by 19 percent year-on-year,’ said the multinational’s parent firm Rubis Énergie.

‘Haiti was the main contributor to volume growth while Kenya saw a significant increase in its margin, benefiting from solid commercial momentum and strong customer activity.’

The improvement comes despite a highly competitive Kenyan petroleum market, particularly in aviation fuel, where Rubis said it continued prioritising margins over volumes rather than chasing market share.

The company reported that the Kenyan aviation segment remained competitive during the period, limiting its ability to pursue volume growth even as the wider aviation business improved profitability.

The latest performance contrasts with the weaker picture in euro terms last year, when Rubis Kenya’s revenue fell from pound 488 million in the first half of 2024 to pound 455 million in 2025 despite higher sales in shilling terms.

The reversal partly reflects the greater stability of the shilling against major currencies, reducing the translation losses that had previously masked growth in the Kenyan operation when results were converted into euros.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said the shilling averaged Sh129.28 against the dollar in the fourth quarter of 2025, virtually unchanged from Sh129.32 a year earlier, although it weakened against the euro.

By June 2026, the shilling was trading at about Sh149.99 to the euro, with daily rates remaining around the Sh147-Sh150 range during the month, providing a relatively stable base for reporting local revenues.

Rubis’ wider African operations also strengthened during the period under review, with Africa generating pound 1.69 billion in revenue during the first half, up 39 percent from pound 1.22 billion a year earlier.

Kenya accounted for about a third of Rubis’ African revenue, underscoring the country’s importance to the French group’s energy distribution business and its broader growth strategy on the continent.

The growth is occurring against sustained demand for petroleum products, with Kenya’s diesel consumption rising 10.6 percent to 1.3 million tonnes in the six months to June 2026 while petroleum consumption rose by 8.5 percent to 866,170 tonnes.

The demand provides the underlying market for oil marketers, whose revenues are influenced not only by volumes sold but also by pump prices, margins, product mix and movements in the cost of imported petroleum.

Rubis said its global fuel volumes increased six percent during the first half, while gross margins from fuel rose 13 percent, reflecting stronger commercial performance across its markets.

Across all products, Rubis’ energy distribution business sold 3.48 million cubic metres during the period, nine percent more than the 3.2 million cubic metres recorded in the first half of 2025.

Bitumen was the fastest-growing product globally, with volumes increasing 44 percent and gross margin rising 54 percent, reflecting stronger construction and infrastructure-related demand across several markets.

In Kenya, the stronger first-half revenue comes as the petroleum industry faces a changing demand environment, with businesses and households remaining sensitive to pump prices and the cost of transport.

The government’s fuel-pricing system continues to regulate maximum retail prices through monthly reviews by EPRA, limiting the extent to which oil marketers can independently adjust pump prices.

The improved performance also come as Kenya’s currency has entered a period of relative stability after the sharp depreciation that had raised import costs and complicated financial reporting for businesses.

Malwatte Valley harnesses tech and innovation to redefine plantation productivity

Since inception the plantation industry has served as a central pillar of the Sri Lankan economy. Tea in particular has been the lynchpin of the industry. Especially for globally renowned Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) like Malwatte Valley Plantations PLC, whose teas are possessed of a globally unique terroir that emerges from the soil, elevation and dry winds that move through the valley.

Spread across tea estates in the Uva province and low-country land around Avissawella, Malwatte has built its reputation over decades as one of the nation’s highest quality producers of quality Ceylon tea, rubber, spices, and a growing range of value-added products.

Today, it exports to markets across the Middle East, Europe, Russia, China, Australia, and Japan, and ranks among the nation’s top 20 tea exporters. Increasingly however, what distinguishes Malwatte Valley is not only the quality of its products, but also its entirely modernised approach to plantation agriculture.

That rethinking has been driven, in part, by climate change. Rainfall in the company’s low-country areas around Avissawella has climbed to between 7,000 and 10,000 millimetres annually. This, along with the spread of Pesta (Pestalotiopsis Leaf Fall Disease ((PLFD)) rendered traditional rubber cultivation unviable in the region.

Responding to this emerging crisis early, Malwatte moved decisively; diversifying into cinnamon across 400 hectares, establishing 300 hectares of new tea with a supporting factory under construction, and introducing tropical fruits including rambutan and durian.

Engineering a new kind of plantation through mechanisation

Nowhere is Malwatte’s innovation agenda more visible than in the development of its mechanised cinnamon peeling technology. Cinnamon processing is among the most labour-intensive operations in Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector, with skilled peelers commanding a premium that can account for upto 50% of the product’s final value.

Facing a shortage of experienced peelers at scale, Malwatte took an unconventional approach by tasking engineers from its own renewable energy division; a team recruited out of Moratuwa University that primarily works on solar installations, with developing a mechanical solution.

The result, after extensive experimentation, is a patent-pending machine capable of performing the most complex stage of cinnamon peeling. It enables workers without prior training to achieve output comparable to seasoned peelers; a development that significantly improves productivity and reduces the company’s dependence on a dwindling skilled workforce.

Cultivating at a different scale

The same spirit of innovation runs through Malwatte’s approach to cultivation. In tea, where Sri Lanka’s established planting densities range from roughly 8,000 to 13,500 VP plants per hectare, Malwatte is now planting at 40,000 VP plants per hectare in selected low-country estates, adapting international best practice to local conditions and already seeing bushes reach harvestable maturity considerably earlier than conventional systems allow.

Mechanised tea plucking is also another initiative that is current under development. While technical challenges remain, including drone cameras struggling to identify harvest-ready leaves due to rotor wash interference, the company continues to refine its mechanical plucking solutions as part of a broader commitment to reducing manual dependency across its operations.

From field to finished product

Inside the factories, Malwatte has invested in automating conveyor systems, rolling rooms, and sorting processes, with current efforts focused on the withering stage. The company has also consolidated its tea manufacturing into a smaller number of factories designed around automation, built to operate with a leaner workforce and greater consistency than conventional facilities allow.

Holding all of this together is an operational foundation built for the long term. Our factories run on renewable energy, the company operates its own warehouse, and field-level traceability is maintained across all operations, meeting the supply chain transparency standards that international buyers now expect as the gold standard.

What Malwatte is building, across its fields, factories, and product lines, is something the plantation sector has long needed: a working model of what technology and innovation can deliver when applied with purpose and consistency. With a 2030 roadmap centered on high-density planting, continued replanting, and deeper value addition, the company is demonstrating that plantation agriculture in Sri Lanka is not standing still. It is evolving, and in Malwatte’s case, it is doing so with the kind of drive and ingenuity that could well set the pace for the industry at large.

Home Credit PH renews partnership with UST Tigers and Tigresses for UAAP Season 89

Home Credit Philippines (HCPH) reaffirmed its commitment to empowering young Filipinos as it officially renewed its partnership with the UST Growling Tigers and UST Growling Tigresses for UAAP Season 89, continuing its support for one of the country’s most respected collegiate sports programs. The partnership renewal was formalized during a ceremonial signing held on August 28, 2026, at the University of Santo Tomas, alongside representatives from Home Credit, the University of Santo Tomas, its student-athletes, and fellow supporters.

Now in its second year of partnership with UST athletics, Home Credit continues to invest in initiatives that inspire young people to dream bigger, work harder, and build brighter futures, both on and off the court. The renewed sponsorship reflects the company’s belief that sports play a vital role in shaping discipline, resilience, teamwork, and determination among Filipino youth.

Representing Home Credit Philippines during the signing ceremony were Zdenek Jankovsky, CBDO and Treasury and Funding Director, and Gabriel Roxas, Chief Marketing Officer. They joined Rev. Fr. Rodel S. Cansancio, Director/Regent of the University of Santo Tomas, along with UST athletes and officials in celebrating another season of partnership and shared aspirations.

‘As a company committed to helping Filipinos realize their aspirations, we believe that supporting young athletes goes beyond sponsorship. It is about helping create opportunities for the next generation to develop their talents, pursue excellence, and achieve their goals,’ said Zdenek Jankovsky, Chief Business Development Officer and Treasury and Funding Director of Home Credit Philippines ‘The values of perseverance, hard work, and determination, demonstrated by the UST teams reflect the same values that inspire us to serve and empower Filipinos every day.’

The event also welcomed Globe Telecom as one of the newest sponsors of the UST Growling Tigers, further strengthening the team’s network of partners dedicated to supporting collegiate sports development.

The event was energized by the presence of UST Growling Tigers basketball players Mark Llemit, Angelo Crisostomo, Collins Akowe, and Amiel Acido, alongside Team Managers Eric Ang and Waiyip Chong. Their participation highlighted the strong partnership between the university, its athletes, and organizations that champion student success.

‘Our ongoing partnership with Home Credit Philippines reflects a shared commitment to building athletic excellence among our Thomasian student-athletes. Beyond competing for championships, our priority is preparing our young men and women for life. Having strong, dedicated partners like Home Credit encourage our athletes to dream big and perform with unwavering confidence,’ shared by Rev. Fr. Rodel S. Cansancio, OP, Director and Regent, UST Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA)

As the UST athletes gear up for another exciting UAAP season, Home Credit remains proud to support a program that has long been a source of inspiration for aspiring athletes and sports fans across the country. As UAAP Season 89 unfolds, Home Credit will continue to champion Filipino youth through engaging fan experiences and stories that inspire the next generation to pursue their dreams. Go USTe!

For the latest updates from Home Credit Philippines, visit its official website, www.homecredit.ph, or follow its official Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts. Customers may likewise download the Home Credit App to get pre-approved, available on Google Play, the App Store, and HUAWEI AppGallery.

Wall Street opens lower as AI slowdown fears weigh

Major stock indexes on Wall Street opened lower on Monday as concerns mounted that the rapid development of artificial intelligence could face a slowdown amid growing unease over its expanding capabilities.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei underlined over the weekend that growing risks and cybersecurity incidents warrant slowing the development of AI models. The downbeat sentiment was further fueled by the upcoming Federal Reserve policy meeting this week, coupled with rising oil prices amid uncertainty about crude supply from Middle East.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.25%.

The Nasdaq 100 plunged 1.65%.

The SandP 500 declined 0.73%.

The euro lost 0.54% against the dollar, trading at a four-week low of 1.15359.

Tulfo: P60 wage hike OK, but

Labor officials should pursue in court the previous wage order of P85 for Metro Manila workers, according to Sen. Raffy Tulfo.

Noting that the approved wage hike of P60 is much lower, Tulfo stressed that workers have the right to a salary increase amid rising prices of goods.

‘While the wage increase must be implemented properly, it should not stop there,’ Tulfo said, urging the Department of Labor and Employment to not disregard the previous wage order.

Following a petition filed by construction firms, a Pasig court had issued a temporary restraining order against the wage order that would provide a minimum wage increase of P85.

Tulfo is seeking his colleagues’ support for the passage of Senate Bill 2372, which would prohibit lower courts from halting a wage hike.

After topping PH TV sales, TCL pushes SQD-Mini LED

TV shopping has reached a point where a buyer can encounter terms such as Mini LED, QLED, QD-Mini LED, OLED, and now SQD-Mini LED before even deciding what screen size to get. TCL Philippines wants you to stop looking at the acronyms for a moment – which can get overwhelming – and look at what the screen actually does.

At a recent hands-on media session at TCL’s Manila headquarters, the company put its new C7L SQD-Mini LED TV through side-by-side demonstrations designed to make the differences in brightness, color, contrast, and backlight control easier to see. The C7L is the first television in the Philippines to showcase TCL’s new Super-QD Mini LED, or SQD-Mini LED, platform which is easy on the eyes but still crisp in color.

Disassembled TV units on display gave a close-up look at TCL’s SQD Mini LED, QD Mini LED, and QLED engineering, alongside another TV brand’s Mini LED model, offering a closer look at how different implementations of Mini LED technology can vary in design, precision, and performance.

It arrives at an interesting moment for TCL locally, as the company was named the No. 1 Panel TV Brand in the Philippines for the third consecutive year, according to TRS Research’s 2025 Annual Cumulative Market Share Report, ranked based on nationwide brick-and-mortar retail performance.

TCL Philippines Sales Director Cyd Montebon said smaller TVs remain important to the local market, particularly for first-time buyers and households looking for a secondary set. But Filipino buyers are also moving toward much larger screens. ‘In the past three years, our 75-inch, 85-inch and, surprisingly, the 98-inch TVs have been really popular,’ Montebon said during the session. She added that TCL’s reach across both smaller and more premium sizes has helped support its position in the market.

Despite the new name, SQD-Mini LED is not an entirely different species of screen. It builds on the same basic idea behind Mini LED, using a much denser array of small LEDs behind the LCD panel so different parts of the image can be brightened or dimmed more precisely.

TCL’s QLED, QD Mini LED, and flagship SQD Mini LED TV units showcased alongside other established TV brands with the same content playing side by side to demonstrate TCL’s brighter, clearer, and more vivid picture performance.

The problem Mini LED manufacturers continue to work on is ‘blooming,’ the visible glow that can appear around a bright object against a dark background. Think subtitles against a black screen or a streetlight at night.

As Mini LED TVs evolve with ultra-high zone counts and ultra-high brightness, the problem has expanded beyond simple brightness bleed into what researchers are calling color blooming – color crosstalk at high-brightness boundaries that becomes more sensitive, not just a halo of light but a halo of inaccurate color. This is the gap SQD-Mini LED is specifically designed to address.

SQD stands for Super Quantum Dots. Rather than switching to an RGB LED backlight – the approach other brands pursue, TCL’s SQD-Mini LED uses a traditional blue LED backlight combined with newly formulated quantum dots and an UltraColor Filter, which TCL claims allows it to reach 100% BT.2020 color coverage without the complexity and cost of a full RGB array.

The system combines what TCL calls its Precise Dimming Series with a higher-efficiency light-emitting chip, a condensed micro-lens system, Micro-OD construction, and its All-domain Halo Control Technology. SQD-Mini LED doesn’t just add more zones, it actually shapes and contains the light coming out of each one, reducing spill into surrounding areas for both brightness and color.

Mini LED, in other words, is a category. TCL has a tested formula to implement this play on light and colors to get the best picture possible. It’s one thing to have Mini LED technology. It’s another thing to be able to tune it well for your viewing pleasure. This is where TCL excels.

The system combines Super QLED technology with an upgraded color filter in the panel. TCL says refinements to its quantum-dot material produce purer light before it reaches the screen, while its Ultra Color Filter is designed to separate colors with greater precision.

TCL goes beyond the screen, exposing the backlight structures of its QLED unit alongside a competing brand’s TV, offering a deeper look inside and highlighting why looking beyond product labels matters when evaluating display performan

On the C7L, TCL claims up to 100 percent of the BT.2020 color gamut, although that figure is a TCL laboratory measurement and the company notes that results can vary depending on test conditions and individual products. Wider color gamut figures sound impressive, but the harder job for a TV is maintaining believable color across very bright and very dark scenes rather than producing one spectacular demo image.

TCL’s stated goal with SQD-Mini LED is to control both sides at once: keep highlights bright, keep black areas dark, and prevent neighboring colors from bleeding into one another.

During the presentation, TCL placed SQD-Mini LED at the top of its current TV technology hierarchy, above RGB-Mini LED, QD-Mini LED and conventional Mini LED. The distinction, at least from TCL’s point of view, is not simply brighter output or a higher zone count, but the combination of more precise light control and color management across the panel.

The flagship expression of SQD-Mini LED is TCL’s X11L, the world’s first TV using the technology. At the top end of the range, TCL lists up to 20,736 precise dimming zones and HDR brightness reaching 10,000 nits on the 98-inch model. The X11L also received the Innovative Display Technology Gold Award at the Global Top Brands Awards during CES 2026.

But the C7L is arguably the more relevant product for regular buyers, because it is positioned as the more accessible premium model.

In the Philippines, it comes in 55-, 65-, 75- and 85-inch sizes. Dimming-zone counts vary by size: the 55-inch model has 800, the 65-inch has 1,152, the 75-inch has 1,352 and the 85-inch reaches 1,624. Peak HDR brightness is rated at up to 2,700 nits on the 55-inch model and up to 3,000 nits on the 65-inch and larger versions.

Those figures should not be read as a direct guarantee of what every piece of content will look like. Peak brightness is measured under specific conditions, and dimming-zone count is only one component of image quality. But together with the panel and light-control system, they help explain why TCL is pushing the C7L as something more substantial than another QLED refresh.

The C7L also uses TCL CSOT’s HVA 2.0 panel, including a low-reflection layer intended to reduce glare and improve contrast in brighter rooms. Its TSR AiPQ Processor handles image optimization for clarity, contrast, color, and motion.

There is a strong gaming spec sheet for this model. TCL’s 288 VRR Game Accelerator can reach 288Hz with a compatible source through two HDMI ports. AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Dolby Vision gaming are also supported which means that this is not just a television, but a full-fledged gaming monitor.

For now, the C7L sits between showcase technology and something more attainable. Where TCL takes SQD-Mini LED next will determine whether it remains a premium talking point or becomes the next step in the company’s mainstream TV lineup.

Ridon: Foreign trips are key to checking unexplained wealth

A key takeaway from the testimony of former Sandiganbayan presiding justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang before the Senate Impeachment Court is that foreign trips are among the things to consider in checking if a public official has unexplained wealth, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said on Monday.

In an ambush interview during a break in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Monday, Ridon told reporters that contrary to the defense’s position that nothing can be obtained from the testimony from someone not knowledgeable of the facts of the case, Cabotaje-Tang was able to remind them that there are different ways to check for unexplained wealth.

Ridon, a member of the public prosecution team and co-team leader for Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, said this testimony gave them the resolve to consider bringing up Duterte’s frequent trips abroad.

‘May mga natutunan din ho tayo ngayong araw na ito mula doon sa presentasyon ni former presiding justice Cabotaje-Tang: una, ‘yon pong provision po on unexplained wealth ay nakalagay pala doon ‘yong usapin ng foreign travels ng isa pong public official,’ he said.

(We learned something today from the presentation of former presiding justice Cabotaje-Tang: first, that the provision on unexplained wealth also includes, in possible discussions, foreign travels made by a public official.)

‘Kaya binabanggit na po natin ngayong araw na ito, on the table na po na silipin nang makita ‘yon pong foreign travels na non-official ng ating Pangalawang Pangulo. So, for context, mayroon pong 91 days ang atin pong Pangalawang Pangulo out of the country in the last two years, so, I think this is around 19 foreign trips na non-official in character,’ he added.

(That’s why we are mentioning today: checking on the non-official foreign travels of our Vice President is now on the table. So, for context, there are 91 days during which the Vice President has been out of the country in the last two years, so, I think this is around 19 foreign trips that were non-official in character.)

According to Ridon, the expenses incurred by Duterte for her trips would have to be reconciled with her annual salary as Vice President and her net worth according to her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

Out of the country for 91 days

Ridon said last August 3 that with Duterte being out of the country for 91 days from 2025 to present, she would have needed a budget of P5 million to P8 million, based on the United Nations’ daily subsistence allowance standards. In contrast, the lawmaker noted that Duterte’s annual salary is around P4.2 million, and her 2024 SALN showed a net worth of P88.5 million.

‘Kailangan po itong pagbanggain doon po sa lehitimong kita ng ating Pangalawang Pangulo, bilang Pangalawang Pangulo. So, mga magkano po ‘yon, P4.2 million. At ibabangga rin po ito doon sa declared net worth sa mga SALN, so around P88.5 million doon po sa 2024 at mas mataas ng around P10 million para sa 2025,’ he said.

(We need to bump this with the legitimate earnings of the Vice President as the vice president. So, how much is that, that’s P4.2 million. And this will also be considered with the declared net worth inside the SALNs, so around P88.5 million in 2024 and higher by around P10 million for 2025.)

‘So, pag-iisipan po ng unexplained wealth team kung paano po ito maisasama doon sa kabuuang balangkas na evidence presentation, pero katulad ng nakita po natin doon sa provision on unexplained wealth sa R.A. No. 3019, relevant material ‘yon pong foreign trips na non-official, ng isang public official,’ he added.

(So, the unexplained wealth team will think of ways to include this in the overall presentation of evidence, but like we saw in the provision on unexplained wealth under R.A. No. 3019, non-official foreign trips of a public official are relevant material.)

Ridon was referring to the co-team leader and Akbayan party-list Rep. Chel Diokno’s direct examination of Cabotaje-Tang during Monday’s trial, where he asked the former Sandiganbayan official about the different terms used-like the meaning of hidden wealth, unexplained wealth, and ill-gotten wealth.

When asked how investigators can check if a public official has unexplained wealth, Cabotaje-Tang pointed to an official’s lifestyle.

‘It’s the lifestyle, income tax returns […] Even the properties and assets of the spouse, and the children under 18 years of age,’ she said.

Ridon was also pointing to Cabotaje-Tang’s explanation of Section 8 of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Under the said provision, among the things that constitute prima facie evidence is ‘ostentatious display of wealth including frequent travel abroad of a non-official character by any public official when such activities entail expenses evidently out of proportion to legitimate income.’

Ridon has called out Duterte over a supposed disconnect between Vice President Sara Duterte’s ability to frequently travel abroad and her financial capability as declared in her SALN.

Also, the lawmaker questioned how Duterte was able to spend on her trips considering that she did not declare any cash on hand.

The prosecution panel is now presenting Article II, which deals with allegations that Duterte has unexplained wealth that was not declared in her SALN.

During the congressional hearings on the two impeachment complaints against Duterte, it was Ridon who focused on the alleged issues with her SALN.

Ridon said last April that there was an increase in the Vice President’s net worth that is not proportionate to her salary, noting that her net worth rose by over 1,000 percent from 2008 to 2024.

Ridon explained that Duterte’s SALN in 2008 showed a net worth of P18.49 million, while her net worth in her 2023 SALN grew to P77.50 million and P88.51 million for 2024-representing a 378 percent increase from 2008 to 2024.

Full list: Nigeria’s 10 biggest agricultural exports in 2026

Nigeria exported agricultural products worth N747.54 billion from its top 10 agricultural export categories in the second quarter of 2026, with cashew nuts, cocoa beans and sesame seeds leading the list.

An analysis of data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics showed that cashew nuts in shell recorded the highest export value at N268.62 billion.

Standard quality cocoa beans followed with N154.31 billion, while sesamum seeds ranked third with N96.03 billion.

The combined value of the top 10 agricultural exports in Q2 was 34.8 per cent lower than the N1.15 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2026. It was also 39 per cent lower than the N1.23 trillion recorded in the second quarter of 2025.

10. Soya beans seed – N11.44 billion

Soya beans seed ranked 10th, with exports valued at N11.44 billion in Q2 2026.

The figure was more than double the N5.20 billion recorded in Q1.

9. Crude Shea oil – N12.66 billion

Crude Shea oil generated N12.66 billion in exports during the quarter.

This was an increase from the N9.14 billion recorded in Q1 2026.

8. Natural cocoa butter – N27.60 billion

Nigeria exported natural cocoa butter worth N27.60 billion in Q2.

The figure was lower than the N41.69 billion recorded in Q1 and far below the N105.07 billion recorded in Q2 2025.

7. Other cut flowers and flower buds – N31.43 billion

Other cut flowers and flower buds generated N31.43 billion in Q2.

The figure was significantly higher than the N12.23 billion recorded in Q1, although it was slightly below the N33.41 billion recorded in Q2 2025.

6. Soya bean flours and meals – N36.41 billion

Exports of soya bean flours and meals stood at N36.41 billion in Q2.

Although this was lower than the N53.20 billion recorded in Q1, it was much higher than the N20.64 billion recorded in Q2 2025.

The product therefore recorded a year on year increase of about 76.4 per cent.

5. Soya beans excluding seeds – N50.22 billion

Soya beans excluding seeds ranked fifth, with exports worth N50.22 billion.

The figure represented a 61.2 per cent decline from the N129.27 billion recorded in Q1 2026.

The product was also not among the top 10 agricultural exports in Q2 2025.

4. Superior quality cocoa beans – N58.82 billion

Superior quality cocoa beans generated N58.82 billion in Q2.

This was a major drop from the N596.90 billion recorded in Q1 2026 and the N277.02 billion recorded in Q2 2025.

The Q2 figure represented a 90.1 per cent decline from Q1, causing the product to fall from first place in Q1 to fourth place in Q2.

3. Sesamum seeds – N96.03 billion

Sesamum seeds generated N96.03 billion, making it Nigeria’s third largest agricultural export in Q2.

The figure was down 37.6 per cent from the N153.78 billion recorded in Q1.

However, compared with the N78 billion recorded in Q2 2025, sesame exports increased by 23.1 per cent.

2. Standard quality cocoa beans – N154.31 billion

Standard quality cocoa beans ranked second after generating N154.31 billion in Q2.

This was a huge increase from the N2.40 billion recorded in Q1 2026, representing a rise of more than 6,320 per cent.

However, the Q2 figure was still below the N208.47 billion recorded in Q2 2025.

1. Cashew nuts in shell – N268.62 billion

Cashew nuts in shell emerged as Nigeria’s biggest agricultural export in Q2 2026, with exports valued at N268.62 billion.

Cashew also topped the list in Q2 2025, when exports were worth N352.67 billion.

The Q2 2026 figure represented a 23.8 per cent decline compared with the same period in 2025.

Cocoa remains a major export

Cocoa remained one of Nigeria’s most important agricultural exports during the quarter, although there was a major change in the types of cocoa products being exported.

Standard quality cocoa beans generated N154.31 billion, while superior quality cocoa beans brought in N58.82 billion. Natural cocoa butter added N27.60 billion.

Together, the three cocoa categories generated N240.73 billion in Q2. This was significantly lower than the N590.56 billion generated by the same categories in Q2 2025.

The biggest change was seen in superior quality cocoa beans, whose export value dropped from N596.90 billion in Q1 to N58.82 billion in Q2.

At the same time, standard quality cocoa beans rose sharply from N2.40 billion in Q1 to N154.31 billion in Q2.

Cashew and soybean exports remain strong

Cashew and soybean products also made a major contribution to Nigeria’s agricultural exports.

Cashew nuts in shell generated N268.62 billion, while the three soybean categories in the top 10 generated a combined N98.07 billion.

Together, cashew and soybean products were worth N366.69 billion, accounting for almost half of the total value of the top 10 agricultural exports.

The figures show that Nigeria’s agricultural export earnings are not dependent on cocoa alone, with cashew and soybean products also playing an important role.

What the figures show

Nigeria’s agricultural exports remain concentrated around a small number of commodities.

The top three products, cashew nuts in shell, standard quality cocoa beans and sesamum seeds, generated N518.96 billion. This represented about 69.4 per cent of the N747.54 billion recorded by the top 10 agricultural exports.

This concentration presents both opportunities and risks.

Strong demand for Nigerian cashew, cocoa and sesame could boost export earnings. However, changes in international prices, production levels, export volumes or quality requirements could also have a major effect on the country’s agricultural export performance.

The sharp changes between the first and second quarters also show the volatility of Nigeria’s agricultural export market.

For farmers and exporters, the figures highlight the importance of expanding into different products and markets rather than relying heavily on a few commodities.

Unions show scant interest in job creation

The labour union is locked in a tussle with the government of Botswana over two issues. The first one, and not in any order, is the Directorate of Public Service Management’s (DPSM) decision to review local travel allowances, popularly known as per diem, for public servants.

Previously, public officers were expected to account for their expenses when on mission. However, to reduce paperwork, the government decided to provide per diem to cover accommodation and meals for government employees’ travel expenses.

Another consideration was to allow small accommodation providers, especially citizen-owned facilities, to benefit from government travel. The government’s view was that only formal and large hotels benefited; sometimes at the expense of small citizen-owned operations.

But as the per diem policy was being implemented, it became clear that the intended beneficiaries of the reform lost out. There are even reports of public employees minimising their travel expenses, to the extent that they do not sleep in hotels. This, obviously, had a negative bearing on hotels.

Unfortunately, because of the Botswana government’s large footprint in the economy, hotel occupancy rates declined significantly. Some operations, especially the small ones that were supposed to benefit, had to close their doors, sending employees onto the streets. As it turned out, the objectives were not achieved.

And these unintended consequences are often missed in the current debate. The unions, in a self centred way, only focus on government employees and want them to continue to enjoy those benefits. So while they profess to care about employees’ welfare, they seem to be selective and only seem to care about the welfare of employees who are in government. So the conclusion is that the hotel workers are not in government, and the fact that some of them have lost jobs doesn’t matter. That right there brings the sincerity of the unions into question.

The unions are also vehemently opposed to any government moves to restructure the public service and to separate some employees through a voluntary separation process. The fact that the wage bill is not only bloated but also unsustainable is a grave issue that should concern all of us. However, the unions do not seem to care about any of that.

They are just comfortable with taxpayers sending money to the fiscus to sustain a bloated civil service. This is totally unfair to the taxpayer, who should be allowed to keep as much as possible of their hard-earned money in their pocket and use it in any way they deem fit. And the unions are acting in a manner that can only be described as irresponsible.

It is also important to remember that the government is responsible for the welfare of all its citizens, not just the unionised staffers in government. The reforms of the per diem do not take away any benefits from the civil servants. It also does not result in them losing jobs.

We need to recognise that the government will not always have the means to pay for an overstaffed civil service. The signs are already there that maintaining such a large workforce is not viable.

The Transformation Project, implemented to its logical conclusion, should lead to higher productivity levels in government. Higher productivity levels lead to prosperity and jobs. I’m gobsmacked that some are opposed to that.