Niger, Togo, Benin owe Nigeria $5.7m in electricity debt

International customers enjoying electricity from Nigeria in Niger, Togo and the Benin Republic owe Nigeria the sum of $5.7 million for electricity supply.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) revealed this in its latest report for the third quarter of 2024.

Benin Republic’s Paras-SBEE and Transcorp-SBEE, Mainstream-NIGELEC from Niger and Odukpani-CEET from Togo were listed as the indebted international customers.

Nigeria is a member of the West African Power Pool (WAPP), an agency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that coordinates power exchange among member states.

By being a party to this treaty, Nigeria exports electricity to some of its West-African neighbours, including Niger, Benin Republic and Togo. In 2023, the country exported $153 million worth of electricity, making it the 53rd largest exporter of electricity in the world at the time.

The NERC noted in its report that market operators (MO) issued an invoice of $12.19 million to six firms, but only $6.49 million was paid.

“In 2024/Q3, the six (6) international bilateral customers purchasing power from the grid-connected GenCos made a cumulative payment of $6.49 million against the $12.19 million invoice issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q3,” the NERC noted.

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“Similarly, the domestic bilateral customers made a cumulative payment of ₦1,566.51 million against the ₦2,100.79 million invoice issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q34.”

The commission also added that some bilateral customers, including domestic and international customers, made payments in the third quarter of 2024 for outstanding MO invoices from previous quarters.

Odukpani-CEET, for instance, paid the sum of $1.33 million towards outstanding invoices from previous quarters.

Other bilateral customers in Nigeria, including Trans-Amadi and the North-South/Star Pipe, also made payments to offer their debts from previous quarters.

He added, “Similarly, the MO received ₦31.51 million from the domestic bilateral customers (North-South/Star Pipe; ₦9.50 million and Trans-Amadi (OAU/FMPI); ₦22.01 million) towards outstanding invoices from previous quarters.”

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