Nigeria’s Federal Government has disclosed that four international customers, including entities in Togo and Benin, owe a combined $14.19 million for electricity supplied in the first quarter of 2024. The revelation was made by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in a report seen by our correspondent.
The outstanding payments are owed by the following companies: Para-SBEE in Benin Republic ($3.15 million), Transcorp-SBEE in Benin ($4.46 million), Mainstream-NIGELEC in Togo ($1.21 million), and Odukpani-CEET in Togo ($5.36 million). According to the report, none of these international bilateral customers have made any payments against the invoices issued for Q1 2024.
Additionally, local bilateral customers within Nigeria also failed to remit a cumulative invoice of N1.86 million for services rendered during the same period. However, NERC noted that some local and international customers made partial payments during the quarter towards outstanding debts from previous periods. Specifically, $5.96 million was paid by two international customers, while N505.71 million was received from eight local customers.
The NERC emphasized the need for the Market Operator to enforce market rules to address the issue of payment indiscipline among both local and international customers. This follows a similar trend in 2023, where international consumers failed to remit approximately $51.26 million for electricity exported from Nigeria, alongside a domestic shortfall of about N7.61 billion.
The commission has urged the Market Operator, a division of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), to take stronger actions to ensure timely payments and curb ongoing payment indiscipline in the electricity sector.
