Benin, Togo and Niger Republic ended 2025 owing Nigeria a combined $11.16 million for electricity supplied to them, highlighting the payment challenges facing Nigeria’s cross-border power market.
The figure was disclosed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in its 2025 Annual Report, published on August 25, 2026. The report covers the financial and operational performance of Nigeria’s electricity market during 2025.
The three international customers are Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (SBEE) of Benin, Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo (CEET) of Togo and Société Nigérienne d’Électricité (NIGELEC) of Niger.
According to NERC’s data, the three utilities were invoiced $73.91 million by the Market Operator for electricity supplied by Nigerian generating companies under bilateral cross-border arrangements. They paid $62.75 million, leaving the $11.16 million balance.
That represents a combined 84.9% payment performance for the year.
The result marked a major improvement from 2024, when the same three international customers received a combined $56.07 million in invoices but paid only $42.06 million, representing a 75.01% remittance rate.
However, payment performance remained weaker than that of domestic bilateral customers. NERC’s figures show that domestic bilateral customers achieved a 96.6% remittance rate in 2025, indicating a wider collection gap in cross-border electricity transactions.
The improvement also follows a difficult history of delayed payments. NERC’s third-quarter 2025 report showed that the three international customers paid only $7.12 million against $18.69 million invoiced for electricity supplied during that quarter, a remittance rate of 38.09%. The customers also made $7.84 million in payments towards previous outstanding invoices.
The payment gap matters because Nigeria’s power market depends heavily on timely cash collection to pay generators and other market participants. Persistent arrears can weaken liquidity across the electricity value chain and make it harder for generating companies to recover the cost of producing power.
The figures also underline the importance of stronger payment enforcement as Nigeria expands electricity-market reforms under the Electricity Act 2023, which opened greater opportunities for states and private investors to participate in the power sector.
For Nigeria, improving collections from foreign customers would provide additional dollar revenue for electricity exports while reducing pressure on an already financially strained power market.
