Shittu Oluwadamilola – Lagos
Togo, Niger and Benin currently owe Nigeria about N25bn ($17.8m) for electricity supplied under bilateral cross-border power agreements, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has disclosed.
In its Q3 2025 report, NERC said the three countries were invoiced $18.69m for electricity supplied during the quarter but paid only $7.12m, leaving a large portion unpaid.
The commission also revealed that outstanding debts from previous quarters pushed the total unpaid amount to $17.8m, highlighting Nigeria’s continued supply of power despite weak remittance by some international customers.
NERC identified the defaulting offtakers as Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo, Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique, and Société Nigérienne d’Électricité, all of which receive power generated by Nigerian grid-connected companies.
The regulator noted that international customers recorded a low 38.09% payment performance, while domestic bilateral customers performed far better, remitting N3.19bn out of N3.64bn, representing 87.61% compliance.
NERC said the figures reflect Nigeria’s strong position as a regional electricity supplier and better payment discipline within the domestic power market, based on reconciled market settlements as of December 18, 2025.
