Benin, Togo Owe Nigeria Over $11m in Unpaid Electricity Bills

The Republics of Benin and Togo have defaulted on over $11 million in electricity payments to Nigeria for power supplied in the first quarter of 2025, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

In its latest quarterly report, NERC revealed that bilateral power customers from both countries — including Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (SBEE) and Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET) — failed to settle their full invoices, with some making no payments at all.

Specifically, CEET received electricity from Nigeria through two bilateral agreements with Odukpani and Paras Energy but made zero payment during the period. SBEE, which has bilateral deals with Transcorp and Paras Energy, only made partial remittances.

Breakdown of the report showed that:

• PARAS-CEET (Togo) paid only $0.63 million of its $1.92 million invoice.

• TRANSCORP-SBEE (Afam 3) paid $0.3 million out of $1.73 million.

• TRANSCORP-SBEE (Ughelli) paid $1.82 million from a $4.97 million bill.

• ODUKPANI-CEET and PARAS-SBEE made no payments.

Out of the total $17.24 million invoiced to six international bilateral customers, just $5.8 million was recovered — representing a remittance rate of 33.7%. Only Niger Republic’s utility company, NIGELEC, paid its full invoice of $3.03 million for supply from Mainstream Energy.

NERC has raised alarms over this continued trend of non-payment, warning that it jeopardizes the sustainability of Nigeria’s electricity market and may lead to supply cuts to the defaulting countries.

Domestically, the report noted slightly improved performance but highlighted several local bilateral customers who either defaulted entirely or made only partial payments. While MSTM/Inner Galaxy paid its full N1.64 billion invoice, others like NDPHC/SUNFLAG, TAOPEX/KAM INT, and Sapele/Phoenix paid nothing, despite being billed hundreds of millions of naira.

Partial payments were also recorded from:

• NDPHC/WEEWOOD: N71.74m of N104.03m

• NORTH SOUTH/STAR PIPE: N21.51m of N32.39m

• Trans Amadi (OAU/FMPI): N23.57m of N35.98m

• Alaoju GENCO/APLE: N100m of N455.36m (21.96% remittance)

NERC expressed particular concern over Ajaokuta Steel Company, a designated special customer, which made no payments toward its combined N1.51 billion invoices — a pattern the regulator described as long-standing and worrying.