Precious Anga
Lagos — Nigeria’s electricity exports to neighbouring West African countries continue to face significant payment challenges, with Benin Republic, Togo and the Niger Republic owing about ₦17.45 billion for electricity supplied during the first quarter of 2026, according to the latest report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The commission’s first-quarter 2026 report showed that the three countries, through bilateral electricity supply agreements with Nigerian generation companies, paid only $4.82 million out of the $17.48 million invoiced by the Market Operator (MO). This left an outstanding balance of $12.66 million, equivalent to about ₦17.45 billion at an exchange rate of ₦1,378 to the dollar.
The poor remittance performance comes despite Nigeria’s continued electricity exports under bilateral agreements aimed at strengthening regional power supply across West Africa. The recurring debts have also continued to worsen the liquidity crisis in Nigeria’s power sector.
According to NERC, the international customers recorded a far weaker payment performance than domestic bilateral customers, who settled 95 per cent of their invoices during the same period.
“The three international bilateral customers being supplied by GenCos in the NESI made a payment of $4.82m against the cumulative invoice of $17.48m issued by the Market Operator for services rendered in 2026/Q1, translating to a remittance performance of 27.57 per cent,” the commission stated.
A breakdown of the report showed that Paras-SBEE, which supplies electricity to the Benin Republic, failed to make any payment against its $1.94 million invoice, recording zero per cent remittance. Likewise, Paras-CEET, which exports electricity to Togo, made no payment on its $1.67 million invoice.
Another supplier to Benin Republic, Transcorp-SBEE (Ughelli), paid $900,000 out of its $4.20 million invoice, representing a remittance performance of 21.43 per cent. Transcorp-SBEE (Afam 3) also remitted $1.13 million from its $2.90 million invoice, achieving a payment rate of 38.97 per cent.
Among the international customers, Mainstream-NIGELEC, which exports electricity to the Niger Republic, recorded the strongest performance. The company paid $2.79 million out of its $4.45 million invoice, representing 62.70 per cent of the amount billed.
However, Odukpani-CEET, another supplier serving Togo, failed to make any payment against its $2.29 million invoice, maintaining a zero remittance record during the review period.
Although current invoice payments remained weak, NERC disclosed that some international customers settled part of the debts accumulated from previous quarters.
“It is noteworthy that, during Q1 2026, three international and nine domestic bilateral customers made payments of $6.64m and ₦2.59bn, respectively, towards outstanding MO invoices from previous quarters.
“Specifically, the MO received a total of $4.05m from Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique, comprising payments for Ughelli ($3.28m) and Paras ($0.77m). In addition, $1.87m was received from Mainstream-Société Nigérienne d’Électricité (NIGELEC) and $0.72m from Paras-Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET),” the report stated.
In contrast, domestic bilateral customers recorded stronger payment performance during the quarter. According to NERC, they remitted ₦5.82 billion out of the ₦6.12 billion invoiced by the Market Operator, representing a 95 per cent remittance rate.
The commission also disclosed that Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and its host community again failed to settle their electricity obligations during the review period.
According to the report, the special customer made no payment against the ₦676.88 million invoice issued by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) or the ₦189.38 million invoice issued by the Market Operator, extending a longstanding pattern of non-payment that continues to strain the financial health of Nigeria’s electricity market.
