BY SAM OTUONYE
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has disclosed that the Republics of Benin and Togo have failed to remit over $11 million owed Nigeria for electricity supplied during the first quarter of 2025.
The two West African neighbours, who receive power under bilateral supply agreements with Nigeria, according to the report, made only partial or no payments at all for the energy consumed between January and March.
Togo’s electricity utility, Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET), did not make any payment for its power received through bilateral deals with Odukpani and Paras Energy. Likewise, Benin’s SBEE (Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique) paid only a portion of its invoices under agreements with Transcorp and Paras.
A breakdown of the report showed that CEET paid just $0.63 million out of a $1.92 million invoice under its Paras deal, while Benin’s SBEE settled only $0.3 million of a $1.73 million bill from Transcorp’s Afam III plant. Another deal between Transcorp and SBEE covering Ughelli power saw a payment of $1.82 million against a total of $4.97 million owed. Meanwhile, both Odukpani-CEET and Paras-SBEE made no remittances.
Overall, six bilateral customers from Nigeria’s cross-border power deals were invoiced a combined $17.24 million, but only $5.8 million was recovered, reflecting a remittance rate of just 33.7 per cent. Niger’s utility firm, NIGELEC, was the only customer to fully settle its $3.03 million obligation.
The persistent non-payment trend, especially from Benin and Togo, has raised serious concerns about the financial viability of Nigeria’s international electricity supply agreements. NERC has previously warned of possible supply cuts to both countries, stating that continued default poses a risk to the country’s electricity market stability.