Togo, Niger, Benin Owe Nigeria $17.8m for Cross-Border Power Supply

Nigeria is owed a total of $17.8 million (over ₦25 billion) by Togo, Niger and Benin for electricity supplied through bilateral power agreements, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The regulator disclosed this in its Third Quarter 2025 report, noting that the three neighbouring countries were invoiced $18.69 million for electricity delivered during the quarter but paid only $7.13 million. This left an unpaid balance of $11.56 million for the period under review.

NERC also revealed that the same international customers had outstanding debts from previous quarters amounting to $14.7 million. Of this legacy debt, $7.84 million was settled, leaving an additional balance of $6.23 million. Combined with the Q3 shortfall, the total outstanding debt stood at $17.8 million.

The affected power offtakers were identified as Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo, Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique in Benin, and Société Nigérienne d’Électricité in Niger. The electricity supplied to them was generated by Nigerian grid-connected power generation companies and transmitted under cross-border bilateral arrangements.

According to the commission, the $7.13 million paid against the Q3 invoice represented a remittance performance of just 38.09 per cent, meaning that more than half of the billed amount remained unpaid at the end of the quarter.

In contrast, domestic bilateral customers showed stronger payment discipline. NERC reported that local bilateral customers paid ₦3.19 billion out of the ₦3.64 billion invoiced during the same period, achieving a remittance rate of 87.61 per cent. Some domestic and international customers also made additional payments to clear portions of invoices from earlier quarters.

The commission further disclosed that Nigeria’s 11 electricity distribution companies remitted a total of ₦381.29 billion to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and the Market Operator in Q3 2025. This was out of a total invoice of ₦400.48 billion, translating to a remittance performance of 95.21 per cent.

NERC explained that the figures were based on reconciled market settlements submitted to the commission as of December 18, 2025, as part of its statutory review of the commercial performance of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.