Benin, Togo, and Niger owed Nigeria $11.16 million in unpaid electricity bills for the 2025 period, according to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The outstanding payments reflect a recurring challenge in Nigeria’s efforts to monetise its power exports to neighbouring West African nations.
Nigeria supplies electricity to these countries through high-voltage interconnection lines, aiming to generate foreign exchange and improve regional energy security.
The debt represents a loss of liquidity for the Nigerian power sector, which continues to struggle with internal funding gaps and infrastructure deficits.
Power exports are managed through the West African Power Pool (WAPP), a regional body designed to integrate national power grids to allow for the efficient exchange of electricity.
While the WAPP framework provides the technical and regulatory structure for these trades, the actual collection of payments remains a diplomatic and financial hurdle.
The $11.16 million deficit suggests that the mechanisms for ensuring prompt payment by regional partners are insufficient to prevent the accumulation of arrears.
Payment Defaults and Regional Instability
The difficulty in recovering these funds is often linked to the political and economic stability of the recipient countries.
Niger, in particular, has faced significant political volatility over recent years, including military coups and subsequent sanctions from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Such instability often disrupts the fiscal capacity of state-owned utilities to settle international energy debts on time.
Benin and Togo have historically been more consistent partners, but the accumulation of debt indicates a systemic issue in how regional electricity tariffs are settled.
The Nigerian government has previously expressed the need for more robust payment guarantees to protect the Nigerian grid and the generation companies that provide the power.
Without guaranteed payments, the incentive to expand export capacity is diminished, potentially slowing the development of the regional energy market.
The NERC report highlights that these receivables are critical for the sustainability of the export programme, especially as Nigeria seeks to upgrade its transmission infrastructure.
The current debt adds to a wider trend of payment failures within the Nigerian electricity value chain, where distribution companies also owe significant sums to generation companies.
Industry analysts suggest that the failure to collect these international debts undermines the commercial viability of Nigeria’s role as a regional energy hub.
To resolve the current arrears, the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will likely need to engage in bilateral negotiations with the governments of Benin, Togo, and Niger.
The next step for NERC and the transmission company involves reviewing the creditworthiness of these regional off-takers to determine if future supplies should be contingent on the settlement of old debts.
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