International Consumers Owe Nigeria $51m for Electricity — FG

 

  International consumers have failed to remit approximately $51.26 million for electricity exported from Nigeria in 2023, the Federal Government has revealed. This non-remittance has been highlighted in the latest industry data.

In addition, another group of customers, classified as bilateral power consumers, owes about N7.61 billion to the Nigerian power sector for the same period.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has condemned this situation, describing it as payment indiscipline that needs to be addressed by the Market Operator, a division of the Transmission Company of Nigeria responsible for power exports.

Government data analysis indicates that international consumers did not remit $16.11 million, $11.97 million, $11.16 million, and $12.02 million for electricity exported in the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of 2023, respectively. Similarly, bilateral consumers failed to pay N827 million, N2.03 billion, N2.8 billion, and N1.95 billion during the same quarters.

Despite Nigeria’s insufficient power supply to meet domestic demand, the country exports electricity based on strategic agreements with neighboring countries such as Niger, Togo, and Benin. However, some international consumers have consistently failed to make adequate payments.

NERC reported that in the first quarter of 2023, none of the international customers, including Paras-SBEE, Transcorp-SBEE, Mainstream-NIGELEC, and Odukpani-CEET, paid against the $16.11 million invoiced to them. For bilateral customers, only North South/Star Pipe made a partial payment of ₦15.38 million against a ₦24.69 million invoice.

The commission noted that this non-remittance trend among bilateral consumers has persisted and urged the Market Operator to enforce market rules to address this issue.

In the second quarter, only Transcorp-SBEE made a partial payment of $1.43 million against a $2.13 million invoice, while the remaining international customers did not pay the $11.97 million invoiced. Bilateral consumers paid ₦816.66 million against a cumulative invoice of ₦2.845 billion.

By the third quarter, none of the four international customers paid the $11.16 million invoiced, nor did any of the 16 bilateral customers pay the ₦2.814 billion invoiced.

In the fourth quarter, no international customers paid the $12.02 million invoiced, and no bilateral customers paid the ₦1.952 billion invoiced.

Reacting to the development, Uket Obonga, the National Secretary of the Nigeria Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network, criticized the rationale behind exporting electricity when about 90 million Nigerians lack access to the national grid. He questioned the economic logic of exporting such a scarce resource needed domestically.