Benin Republic and Togo collectively owe Nigeria $8.84 million for electricity consumed in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to a report from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The report, which details the payments made by bilateral and special customers, revealed that international customers supplied by Nigerian Generation Companies (Gencos) made a payment of $5.21 million against a total invoice of $14.05 million for Q4 2024. This equates to a remittance performance of 37.08%.
Among the international customers, Paras-SBEE in Benin Republic paid $2.65 million, Paras-CEET also in Benin paid $1.64 million, and Transcorp-SBEE (Ughelli) in Benin paid $1.71 million of its $3.59 million invoice. Transcorp-SBEE (Afam 3) in Benin paid $0.90 million of its $1.2 million invoice, while Odukpani-CEET in Togo still owes $2.37 million.
The report also indicated that Mainstream-NIGELEC was the only international customer to pay off its full $2.60 million invoice.
On the domestic front, bilateral customers paid N1.25 million against an invoice of N1.98 million for the same period, reflecting a 63.36% remittance performance.
In addition, some customers made partial payments for outstanding invoices from previous quarters. These included Paras-CEET, Paras-SBEE, and Transcorp-SBEE, which paid $0.98 million, $0.7 million, and $1.3 million, respectively, towards previous debts.
Meanwhile, Ajaokuta Steel Co. Ltd and the host community did not make any payments towards their Q4 2024 invoices of N1.27 billion (NBET) and N0.11 billion (MO). This continues a longstanding pattern of non-payment, prompting NERC to call for intervention by relevant government authorities.
NERC also reported that electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria collected N509.84 billion in the last quarter of 2024, achieving a collection efficiency of 77.44%, an increase from the 74.55% recorded in the third quarter of 2024.
