THE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that neighbouring West African countries of Benin and Togo owe the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) about $8.5 million for electricity supply.
NERC disclosed this in its second-quarter(Q2) report of 2025.
The electricity regulator explained that six international bilateral customers who purchase power from Nigerian generation companies remitted only $9.01 million out of a total $17.54 million invoice issued by the Market Operator for services rendered during the period.
This left an outstanding balance of $8.53 million, representing a remittance performance of 51.33 per cent.
The report identified the international customers as Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (SBEE) of the Republic of Benin, Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo (CEET) of Togo, and Société Nigérienne d’Électricité (NIGELEC) of the Republic of Niger, among others. These countries receive electricity from Nigeria through cross-border supply arrangements managed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
A breakdown of the report showed that Mainstream Energy Solutions received $2.59 million out of the $3.71 million invoice issued to NIGELEC, representing a 69.8 per cent remittance rate. CEET made no payment for its $4.31 million invoice, while SBEE, which buys power from Transcorp and Paras Energy, settled only a portion of its bill.
“The six international bilateral customers being supplied by GenCos in the NESI made a payment of $9.01 million against the cumulative invoice of $17.54 million issued by the Market Operator for services rendered in 2025/Q2, translating to a remittance performance of 51.33 per cent,” NERC said in the report.
The commission also disclosed that domestic bilateral customers made a combined payment of ₦1.4 billion out of ₦2.8 billion billed for services in the same period, representing a 50.10 per cent remittance rate. Only the Transcorp (Ughelli)–SBEE contract achieved full remittance of $5.47 million, while others, such as Paras–SBEE, Paras–CEET, and Odukpani–CEET, recorded no payments.
On the performance of electricity distribution companies (DisCos), NERC reported that they remitted ₦399.20 billion to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and ₦65.30 billion to the Market Operator, against a total invoice of ₦417.35 billion for generation and transmission services. This resulted in a shortfall of about ₦18.15 billion and a remittance performance of 95.65 per cent, slightly lower than the 95.86 per cent recorded in the previous quarter.
Despite the improved billing efficiency recorded in Q2 2025, the sector continued to suffer from high Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) losses, which stood at 37.92 per cent, far above the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) target of 20.54 per cent. Kaduna DisCo posted the poorest performance, with a loss rate of 70.98 per cent against a target of 21.32 per cent.
NERC warned that the persistent shortfall in remittances from both international and domestic customers continues to threaten the financial stability of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, where operators depend on timely payments to sustain generation and grid operations.
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