Benin Republic, Togo, Niger owe Nigeria ₦12 billion in electricity debt

Three West African countries, Benin, Togo, and Niger, failed to fully pay Nigeria for electricity supplied to them in the fourth quarter of 2025, leaving an outstanding debt of $9.55 million, which is the equivalent of 12 billion naira.

According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Quarterly Report for Q4 2025, Nigeria issued a total invoice of $20.44 million to the three countries for electricity supplied during the period. However, only $10.89 million was paid, representing a remittance performance of 53.28 per cent.

The report stated, “The three international bilateral customers being supplied by GenCos in the Nigerian electricity supply industry made a payment of $10.89m against the cumulative invoice of $20.44m issued by the MO for services rendered in 2025/Q4, translating to a remittance performance of 53.28 per cent.”

In simple terms, for every $100 billed, only $53.28 was paid, leaving $46.72 unpaid, which amounts to the $9.55 million shortfall.

The power utilities involved include Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique in Benin Republic, Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo in Togo, and Société Nigerienne d’Electricité in Niger. These utilities received electricity through different Nigerian generation companies.

Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique in Benin received supplies through Paras and Transcorp (Ughelli and Afam 3). Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo in Togo was supplied through Paras and Odukpani, while Société Nigerienne d’Electricité in Niger received power through Mainstream.

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Payment performance across the six international bilateral contracts varied widely.

Paras-SBEE in Benin was invoiced $2.45 million and paid $1.67 million, representing 68.16 per cent. Paras-CEET in Togo was billed $2.18 million and paid $1.46 million, translating to 64.97 per cent.

However, Transcorp-SBEE (Ughelli) in Benin recorded one of the lowest payments, remitting just $0.46 million out of $3.74 million invoiced, only 12.30 per cent.

Transcorp-SBEE (Afam 3) performed significantly better, paying $3.21 million out of $3.90 million invoiced, representing 82.31 per cent.

Mainstream-NIGELEC in Niger, which received the highest invoice of $5.96 million, paid $4.09 million, translating to 68.63 per cent.

But Odukpani-CEET in Togo recorded the worst performance, as it was invoiced $2.18 million and made no payment at all, recording 0.00 per cent.

The NERC report also revealed that one international customer and one domestic bilateral customer made payments for outstanding invoices from previous quarters.

“It is noteworthy that one international and one domestic bilateral customer made payments in 2025/Q4 for outstanding MO invoices from previous quarters. The MO received $3.54m from Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique (Ughelli, $1.86m, and Afam 3, $1.67m) and N141.14m from APLE towards outstanding invoices from previous quarters,” it was stated.

While Nigeria struggled to collect payments from neighbouring countries, domestic bilateral customers showed stronger payment discipline.

“The domestic bilateral customers made a cumulative payment of N3.5bn against the invoice of N4.17bn issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2025/Q4, translating to 84.23 per cent remittance performance,” the report said.

This means local customers paid about 84 kobo for every naira billed, a much better performance compared to international customers.

However, not all domestic customers met expectations. Ajaokuta Steel Company, tagged a special customer, was invoiced N1.26 billion but made no payment during the period.

The entire remittance data in the report, according to NERC, “are based on reconciled market settlement submitted to the commission as of 2 April 2026.”

The development once again highlights a long-standing issue: Nigeria continues to export electricity to neighbouring countries despite facing power shortages at home, while still struggling to recover full payments.

For Nigeria’s electricity generators, the $9.55 million debt, for just one quarter, represents yet another revenue gap in an already strained power sector.