Benin, Togo, and Niger’s foreign consumers owe Nigeria N132.2 billion in unpaid electricity bills from 2018 to the first quarter of 2023.
The sum owed is from the N180.8 billion in electricity bills that the customers were charged, of which they paid N48.57 billion, or 26.8%, according to an analysis of the quarterly reports published by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
With a bill totaling N72.1 billion through its Société Beninoise d’Energie Electrique (SBEE), Benin topped the list of debtors. Niger Republic came in second with a bill totaling N31.3 billion through its Société Nigerienne d’Electricite (NIGELEC), and Togo came in third with a bill totaling N10.03 billion through its Companie Energie Electrique Du Togo.
From the N47.25 billion that was allocated to them, the countries paid N650 million in 2018, but from the N40.6 billion in 2019, they paid nothing.
From N19.7 billion in 2020, N10.4 billion was paid, and from N52.02 billion in 2022, N32.7 billion was paid. From the N8.76 billion in given bills, the corporations paid N4.7 billion in Q3 2021, however they failed to pay the N12.3 billion in given bills in the first quarter of 2023.