Niger, others owe Nigeria N132.2bn in electricity bills as ECOWAS threats looms over neighbouring country

According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), neighbouring countries of Niger, Togo, and Benin have failed to pay over N132.2 billion in electricity bills owed to Nigeria from 2018 to the first quarter of 2023.

A breakdown of quarterly reports by NERC showed that the amount owed is part of the N180.8 billion to the customers, out of which they paid N48.57 billion, representing 26.8% payment.

Breakdown of countries' electricity debt to Nigeria

The analysis revealed that Benin leads the list of debtors with a bill of N72.1 billion via the Societe Beninoise d'Energie Electrique, followed by Niger Republic with N31.3 billion via the Societe Nigerenne d'electricite and Togo with N10.03 billion via the Companie Energie Electrique Du Togo.

On a yearly breakdown, the West African countries paid N650 million from N47.25 billion worth of electricity supply, while in 2029, they still need to pay an amount of N40.6 billion.

The countries paid about N10.4 billion in 2020 from the N19.7 billion bill, while in 2022, the three countries paid N32.7 billion from N52.02 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

The firms did not pay for N12.3 billion worth of electricity supply to them.

The report omitted Q1, Q2, and Q4 figures as of 2021 and did not disclose the amount of electricity sold to the West African countries, while the one for Q3 did not explain what each government owes Nigeria.