Nigeria is currently facing an unpaid electricity debt of $9.55 million from three West African neighbors: Benin, Togo, and Niger. This situation has arisen as Nigeria’s power generation companies contend with a substantial revenue shortfall due to these countries’ failure to settle nearly half of their electricity bills for the fourth quarter of 2025. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) reports that the outstanding debt, approximately N13.07 billion, reflects a payment performance of only 53.28 percent.
During this period, invoices totaling $20.44 million were issued to the three countries, but only $10.89 million was received in payments. This shortfall underscores the ongoing challenges Nigeria faces in its electricity export arrangements, particularly as domestic power supply remains inconsistent. Among the companies involved, Benin’s Paras-SBEE managed to pay 68.16 percent of its $2.45 million invoice, while Paras-CEET in Togo settled 64.97 percent of its $2.18 million bill. Transcorp-SBEE (Afam 3) in Benin performed relatively well, remitting 82.31 percent of its $3.90 million invoice.
In contrast, Transcorp-SBEE (Ughelli) in Benin paid only 12.30 percent of its $3.74 million bill, and Odukpani-CEET in Togo made no payment at all on its $2.18 million invoice. Niger’s Mainstream-NIGELEC settled 68.63 percent of its $5.96 million bill. These figures, based on reconciled market settlements submitted to NERC as of April 2, 2026, highlight the difficulties Nigeria faces in recovering payments for electricity exports.
The unpaid $9.55 million for a single quarter raises significant concerns for Nigeria’s power generation sector, which relies heavily on these revenues to sustain operations. This development occurs amidst Nigeria’s own electricity supply challenges, prompting questions about the sustainability of export agreements when domestic needs are not fully met. The substantial unpaid balance may necessitate a review of billing and collection mechanisms to ensure more reliable remittance from international customers in the future.
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