Niger, Others Owe Nigeria N132.2bn in Electricity Bills as ECOWAS Threats Looms Over Neighbouring Country
- Togo, Niger and Benin Republic owe Nigeria about N132.2 billion worth of payment for electricity supply
- The figure is from accumulated electricity supply bills to the three West African countries from 2018 to Q1 of 2023
- Per the breakdown of the debt, Benin Republic leads the list of debtors with N72.1 billion
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According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), neighbouring countries of Niger, Togo, and Benin have failed to pay over N132.2 billion in electricity bills owed to Nigeria from 2018 to the first quarter of 2023.
A breakdown of quarterly reports by NERC showed that the amount owed is part of the N180.8 billion to the customers, out of which they paid N48.57 billion, representing 26.8% payment.
Source: Getty Images
Breakdown of countries' electricity debt to Nigeria
The analysis revealed that Benin leads the list of debtors with a bill of N72.1 billion via the Societe Beninoise d'Energie Electrique, followed by Niger Republic with N31.3 billion via the Societe Nigerenne d'electricite and Togo with N10.03 billion via the Companie Energie Electrique Du Togo.
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On a yearly breakdown, the West African countries paid N650 million from N47.25 billion worth of electricity supply, while in 2029, they still need to pay an amount of N40.6 billion.
The countries paid about N10.4 billion in 2020 from the N19.7 billion bill, while in 2022, the three countries paid N32.7 billion from N52.02 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
The firms did not pay for N12.3 billion worth of electricity supply to them.
The report omitted Q1, Q2, and Q4 figures as of 2021 and did not disclose the amount of electricity sold to the West African countries, while the one for Q3 did not explain what each government owes Nigeria.
Nigeria threatens defaulting countries with sanctions
The report stated that the non-remittance of electricity bills by countries' customers is a trend that could lead to penalties.
The Nigerian regulator threatened to let the Market Operations Department of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) activate the market rules to curb the payment indiscipline shown by the market countries.
The countries have continued to receive electricity despite the massive debt, except for Niger, whose electricity was cut due to the coup.
The Managing Director of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, said the exportation of electricity was due to a country-to-country deal to generate FX for Nigeria.
The reason was to stop the countries at the upper River Niger from stopping Nigeria from continuing to service its hydropower electricity plants.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), Nnaemeka Ewelukwa, revealed that Nigeria would apply severe sanctions if Niger operated a dam upstream river.
Niger Republic moves to generate own electricity
Niger has repeatedly made plans to stop its reliance on electricity from Nigeria.
Daily Trust reports that the Kandadji hydroelectric dam was awarded to a Russian company in 2010, Zaroubegevodstroi, but was cancelled due to delays in 2019 for a project meant to be delivered in 2015.
Former Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou said it is not about producing electricity but also regenerating the river's ecosystem and creating essential requirements for local development.
Gezhouba Group Company Limited is now executing the contract, leading to the suspension of works after it failed to secure funding.
NERC stops DisCos from new connections without meters
Meanwhile, on the home front, NERC has blocked Distribution companies from connecting new customers without a meter.
NERC said the Electricity Act Mandates it to ensure that DisCos provide quality service to customers.
In its first-quarter report, the regulator revealed that 12,378,243 registered customers were registered and metered, representing 43.3%.
A previous report by Legit.ng said that Nigeria now generates about 3,904 megawatts of electricity for its over 200 million population.
The Ministry of Power said the current power generation is a marginal improvement, a statement by the ministry said on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, to bring it to 86,760.88MWH. R
"N1,000 per day": NERC orders Ikeja Electric, EKDC, other DisCos to compensate consumers for poor service
Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has stated that electricity consumers can be compensated for poor service delivery when the distribution company they are connected to does not provide 90% of electricity hours in a month.
The statement was contained in a document signed by NERC's Chairman and Commissioner for Legal Licensing and Compliance, Sanusi Garba and Dafe Akpeneye, respectively.
Source: Legit.ng
