Nigeria’s electricity exports to neighbouring countries continue to face payment challenges, with Togo, the Republic of Benin and Niger Republic owing $12.66 million for power supplied in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The disclosure is contained in the Commission’s Q1 2026 report, which also revealed that the Federal Government incurred a N358.32 billion electricity subsidy during the period due to non-cost-reflective tariffs.
According to NERC, the three international bilateral customers were billed a combined $17.48 million for electricity supplied by Nigerian generation companies (GenCos) between January and March 2026.
However, they paid only $4.82 million, representing a remittance performance of 27.57 per cent, leaving an outstanding balance of $12.66 million.
The payments received include:
- $4.05 million from Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (SBEE) of Benin Republic, covering electricity supplied by Ughelli and Paras Energy.
- $1.87 million from Société Nigérienne d’Électricité (NIGELEC) of Niger Republic.
- $720,000 from Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo (CEET).
NERC also disclosed that the three international customers made additional payments totalling $6.64 million during the quarter to settle outstanding invoices from previous billing periods.
In contrast, domestic bilateral electricity customers recorded significantly stronger payment performance.
According to the report, they paid N5.82 billion out of N6.12 billion billed during the quarter, translating to a 95% remittance rate.
Nine domestic bilateral customers also paid N2.59 billion toward outstanding invoices from previous quarters.
Ajaokuta Steel remains in default
The Commission noted that Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and its host community made no payment against invoices issued during the first quarter.
The special customer received invoices amounting to:
- N676.88 million from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc.
- N189.38 million from the Market Operator (MO).
NERC described the non-payment as a longstanding issue and said it has requested intervention from relevant Federal Government authorities.
The report also showed that electricity distribution companies (DisCos) collected N597.56 billion from customers during the quarter out of total billings of N756.93 billion.
This represents a collection efficiency of 78.95 per cent.
The figure is slightly lower than the 79.36 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting a 0.41 percentage-point decline in collections.
NERC said the absence of cost-reflective electricity tariffs across distribution companies resulted in a Federal Government subsidy obligation of N358.32 billion during the quarter.
Although substantial, the subsidy represents a 14.44 per cent reduction from the N418.79 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
According to the Commission, the subsidy accounted for 51.95 per cent of total invoices issued to generation companies, compared with 52.03 per cet in the preceding quarter.
NERC attributed the decline largely to an 8.56 per cent reduction in electricity offtake by distribution companies between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.
