Electricity customers in Togo, Benin, and Niger failed to settle an outstanding balance of $11.16 million for power and related services supplied by Nigerian generation companies under bilateral arrangements in 2025, placing additional strain on payment flows within the regional electricity market.
The unpaid sum represents the shortfall between the $73.91 million invoiced by the Market Operator (MO) to the three international off-takers and the $62.75 million actually remitted during the year, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The three foreign utilities are Société Nigérienne d’Électricité (NIGELEC) of Niger, Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (SBEE) of Benin, and Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo (CEET) of Togo.
NERC reported that while these cross-border customers posted an aggregate remittance performance of 84.90 per cent in 2025, they left 15.10 per cent of their cumulative invoices unpaid. Under the current market framework, international customers purchase electricity directly from Nigerian generation companies via bilateral contracts, with the Market Operator issuing invoices for ancillary and grid services.
The $11.16 million debt comes at a time when Nigeria’s domestic power sector continues to grapple with severe liquidity shortages and cash-flow bottlenecks across the electricity value chain.
By contrast, domestic bilateral electricity customers recorded a markedly stronger compliance rate during the same period, remitting ₦12.75 trillion of the ₦13.20 trillion invoiced by the Market Operator, a 96.60 per cent performance rate compared to the 84.90 per cent achieved by foreign buyers.
NERC’s data underscores the widening payment deficit among international off-takers despite their settlement of the majority of their 2025 billing.
The regulator emphasized that strict payment discipline remains critical to the financial viability of generation companies, which depend on predictable revenue from energy sales and market services to sustain domestic operations and maintain cross-border trade agreements.