ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Three West African nations Benin, Togo and Niger collectively defaulted on $9.55m owed to Nigeria for electricity supplied in the fourth quarter of 2025, findings have shown.
Data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s Quarterly Report for Q4 2025 revealed that the market operator issued a total invoice of $20.44m to international bilateral customers across the three countries for electricity delivered within the period.
However, only $10.89m was paid, reflecting a remittance performance of 53.28 per cent.
The report stated, “The three international bilateral customers being supplied by GenCos in the Nigerian electricity supply industry made a payment of $10.89m against the cumulative invoice of $20.44m issued by the MO for services rendered in 2025/Q4, translating to a remittance performance of 53.28 per cent.”
This implies that for every $100 billed, just $53.28 was settled, leaving a deficit of $46.72, which translates to the outstanding $9.55m.
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The indebted parties include power utilities in the three countries. Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique in Benin received electricity via Paras and Transcorp (Ughelli and Afam 3).
Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo in Togo was supplied through Paras and Odukpani, while Société Nigerienne d’Electricite in Niger got power from Mainstream.
Among the six international bilateral contracts, only a handful recorded moderate payment levels. Paras-SBEE in Benin, for example, was billed $2.45m and paid $1.67m, representing 68.16 per cent.
Paras-CEET in Togo received an invoice of $2.18m and remitted $1.46m, equivalent to 64.97 per cent. In contrast, Transcorp-SBEE (Ughelli) in Benin paid just $0.46m out of $3.74m billed, amounting to a low 12.30 per cent.
Transcorp-SBEE (Afam 3) in Benin showed stronger performance, settling $3.21m of its $3.90m invoice, or 82.31 per cent.
Mainstream-NIGELEC in Niger, which had the highest invoice of $5.96m, paid $4.09m, representing 68.63 per cent.
However, Odukpani-CEET in Togo made no payment on its $2.18m bill, recording 0.00 per cent remittance.
The report further noted that one international and one domestic bilateral customer cleared outstanding debts from previous quarters.
SBEE paid $3.54m, while APLE remitted N141m. “It is noteworthy that one international and one domestic bilateral customer made payments in 2025/Q4 for outstanding MO invoices from previous quarters.
The MO received $3.54m from Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique (Ughelli, $1.86m, and Afam 3, $1.67m) and N141.14m from APLE towards outstanding invoices from previous quarters,” it was stated.
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In contrast, domestic bilateral customers within Nigeria demonstrated stronger compliance.
“The domestic bilateral customers made a cumulative payment of N3.5bn against the invoice of N4.17bn issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2025/Q4, translating to 84.23 per cent remittance performance,” the report said.
This means local customers paid 84 kobo for every naira billed.
Meanwhile, Ajaokuta Steel Company, classified as a special customer, was invoiced N1.26bn but made no payment during the period.
The report added that all remittance figures “are based on reconciled market settlement submitted to the commission as of 2 April 2026”.
Overall, the latest disclosure underscores the ongoing difficulty Nigeria faces in recovering payments for electricity exports to neighbouring countries, despite domestic power supply constraints.
The $9.55m owed by Benin, Togo and Niger within a single quarter highlights a notable revenue shortfall for Nigerian power generators.