Benin Republic, Togo Owe Nigeria $88.84 Million in Electricity Debt

Benin Republic and Togo have accumulated an $88.84 million debt for electricity supplied by Nigeria during the fourth quarter of 2024, according to a report gathered by Allnews Nigeria the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The report, issued by the Market Operator, revealed that six international bilateral customers received power from Nigerian generation companies (GenCos) but only paid $5.21 million out of a total invoice of $14.05 million, reflecting a remittance performance of 37.08%.

Breakdown of payments showed that:

• Paras-SBEE (Benin Republic) paid $2.65 million
• Paras-CEET (Benin Republic) paid $1.64 million
• Transcorp-SBEE (Ughelli, Benin Republic) paid $1.71 million out of $3.59 million
• Transcorp-SBEE (Afam 3) paid $0.90 million out of $1.2 million
• Odukpani-CEET (Togo) still owes $2.37 million
• Only Mainstream-NIGELEC fully settled its $2.60 million bill

On the domestic front, Nigerian bilateral customers paid ₦1.25 million out of the ₦1.98 million billed in Q4 2024, achieving a 63.36% remittance rate.

The report also noted that some international customers made payments for previously outstanding invoices, including:

• Paras-CEET ($0.98 million)
• Paras-SBEE ($0.7 million)
• Transcorp-SBEE ($1.3 million)

Similarly, domestic bilateral customers cleared ₦135.81 million in overdue invoices, with payments coming from NDPHC-Weewood (₦21.17 million), North South/Star Pipe (₦11 million), Taopex (₦83 million), and Trans-Amadi (₦20.74 million).

Meanwhile, the special customer, Ajaokuta Steel Co. Ltd., and its host community failed to make any payments towards the ₦1.27 billion (NBET) and ₦0.11 billion (MO) invoices issued in Q4 2024.

The NERC report also disclosed that electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria generated ₦509.84 billion in revenue during the last quarter of 2024. This represents 77.44% of the ₦658.40 billion billed to customers during the period, marking a 2.89 percentage point increase in collection efficiency compared to Q3 2024.