None of the four international bilateral customers receiving electricity from Nigeria’s power generation companies paid the cumulative invoice of $14.19 million issued by the Market Operator for services rendered in the first quarter of 2024, according to a report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The report, seen by journalists, identified the foreign customers as Para-SBEE in Benin Republic ($3.15 million), Transcorp-SBEE in Benin ($4.46 million), Mainstream-NIGELEC in Togo ($1.21 million), and Odukpani-CEET in Togo ($5.36 million).
NERC further disclosed that no payments were made by domestic bilateral customers on the cumulative invoice of N1.86 million issued to them by the Market Operator for services rendered in Q1 2024. However, some bilateral customers, both local and international, made payments during the quarter for outstanding Market Operator invoices from previous quarters.
“Cumulatively, a total of $5.96 million was paid by two international customers. Similarly, the Market Operator received N505.71 million from eight local bilateral customers as payments towards debts incurred before Q1 2024,” the report stated.
The commission emphasized the need for the Market Operator to enforce the market rules to address what it described as the payment indiscipline of local and international bilateral customers.
In May, reports indicated that international consumers had failed to remit approximately $51.26 million to Nigeria for electricity supplied in 2023. The Federal Government disclosed this in industry data highlighting non-remittances by consumers.
Additionally, bilateral power consumers did not remit about N7.61 billion to Nigeria’s power sector in 2023. NERC condemned this trend, describing it as payment indiscipline that the Market Operator, a division of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) responsible for managing Nigeria’s power exports, must address.
An analysis of the government’s industry data revealed that international consumers failed to remit $16.11 million, $11.97 million, $11.16 million, and $12.02 million for the electricity supplied to them in the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of 2023, respectively.
