Nigeria Faces $5.7 Million Electricity Debt from International Customers
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has disclosed that international electricity customers in Benin Republic and Togo owe Nigeria $5.79 million for energy consumed during the second quarter of 2024. This was revealed in NERC’s latest Q2 2024 report, highlighting payment shortfalls among Nigeria’s international energy clients.
From April to June 2024, a total invoice of $15.60 million was issued by the market operator to these international customers, of which $9.81 million was remitted, leaving a 62.88% remittance performance. Among the buyers, Para-SBEE in Benin Republic was billed $4.29 million but only paid 71.21%, amounting to $1.23 million. Transcorp-SBEE, also in Benin, fulfilled 100% of its $4.25 million obligation. Meanwhile, Mainstream-NIGELEC in Togo paid 69.72% of its $3.59 million bill, amounting to $1.09 million, while Odukpani-CEET in Togo did not make any payment on its $3.47 million invoice.
In contrast, the first quarter of 2024 saw none of the four international bilateral customers make payments against the cumulative $14.19 million invoices issued by the market operator for services rendered.
The Q2 report noted that certain bilateral customers, both domestic and international, made payments toward previous outstanding invoices. “Cumulatively, the international bilateral customers paid a total of $16.65 million; Transcorp-SBEE and Mainstream-NIGELEC have made payments towards all outstanding invoices from previous quarters,” the report highlighted.
Domestically, the report indicated that Nigerian bilateral customers paid N1.30 billion against a cumulative invoice of N1.99 billion for services rendered in Q2 2024, reflecting a remittance performance of 65.07%. Additionally, the market operator received N1.30 billion for settling previous outstanding invoices from domestic customers.
Mainstream Energy Solutions was noted for settling all its outstanding invoices from prior quarters, showcasing improved compliance with payment obligations.
Furthermore, NERC’s report revealed that all distribution companies (Discos) in Nigeria collected N431.16 billion out of N543.64 billion billed to customers in Q2 2024, achieving a collection efficiency of 79.31%. This marks a slight improvement from the 79.11% collection efficiency recorded in the first quarter of 2024, where N291.62 billion was collected from a billing total of N368.65 billion.
The report underscores the challenges Nigeria faces in securing payments for electricity exports, even as the nation seeks to strengthen its regional energy partnerships and maintain the stability of its domestic electricity sector.
