Cross-Border Electricity Debts Balloon As Payments Lag
By NINI NDUONOFIT-AKOH
Debt Breakdown & Remittance Performance
Togo, Niger, Benin Owe Nigeria ₦25 billion for Electricity, NERC Report Reveals
TOGO, Niger and Benin owe Nigeria about $17.8 million—equivalent to over ₦25 billion at the prevailing exchange rate—for electricity supplied under cross-border bilateral arrangements, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has disclosed in its Third Quarter 2025 report. The commission said the debt reflects both current and legacy unpaid invoices for power transmitted from Nigeria’s grid-connected generation companies.
According to the report, the Market Operator invoiced the three international customers $18.69 million for electricity delivered in the third quarter of 2025. However, only $7.125 million was remitted, leaving an outstanding $11.56 million for that period. In addition, legacy invoices totalling $14.7 million were issued earlier; payments of $7.84 million were received, leaving another $6.23 million outstanding. Combined, the unpaid amounts total $17.8 million.
The international off-takers are Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo, Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (Benin), and Société Nigérienne d’Électricité (Niger). NERC highlighted that their remittance performance was just 38.09 per cent in Q3, with more than half of billed amounts unpaid. By contrast, domestic bilateral customers fared significantly better, settling ₦3.19 billion out of ₦3.64 billion invoiced—a remittance rate of 87.61 per cent.
NERC further noted that some payments received from both international and domestic customers were for invoices from earlier quarters. The regulator’s assessment is based on reconciled market settlements submitted as of 18th December 2025, reflecting commercial performance across Nigeria’s electricity market.
