Uche Cecil Izuora
Nigeria may take the option of throwing its neighbors into darkness following their huge indebtedness to the country’s electro industry.
According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Nigeria’s electricity industry regulator, international customers have not been able to settle $5.79 million for electricity supplied in the second quarter of 2024.
The NERC in its latest quarterly report details this debt, equivalent to N9.41 billion at the official exchange rate of N1626.32/$ as of October 10.
The Commission says that the non-payment could lead to a complete disconnection from the electricity grid.
Nigeria exports electricity to various countries, including Niger, Togo, and the Republic of Benin and based on strategic agreements with neighbouring countries.
Earlier NERC data showed that these international electricity customers owed the Nigerian government over $51 million in power debt in the first quarter of 2024, but is currently struggling with N9.41bn bill.
According to the recent report, market operators (MO) sent an invoice of $15.60 million to four companies across three countries.
Out of this amount, only $9.81 million has been paid.
The companies involved include Paras-SBEE and Transcorp-SBEE from Benin Republic, Mainstream-NIGELEC from Niger, and Odukpani-CEET from Togo. Nigeria, under an international agreement, supplies electricity to neighbouring countries such as Benin, Niger, and Togo.
The NERC highlighted that domestic bilateral customers had not paid N695.4 million out of a total of N1.99 billion during the same period.
The report stated: “In 2024/Q2, the four (4) international bilateral customers serviced by the MO made a cumulative payment of $9.81 million against the $15.60 million invoice issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q2.
“Similarly, the domestic bilateral customers made a cumulative payment of N1,295.90 million against the cumulative invoice of N1,991.30 million issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q2.”
The Commission further reports that some bilateral customers, both domestic and international, made payments in the second quarter of 2024 to settle outstanding Market Operator (MO) invoices from previous periods.
Specifically, domestic bilateral customers paid a total of N1.31 billion towards clearing these old invoices, and Mainstream Energy Solutions has fully settled all its outstanding invoices from earlier quarters.
However, under a special arrangement, Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and its host community failed to make any payments on the N1.39 billion invoice from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) or the N0.11 billion invoice from the MO issued during Q2 2024.
The Regulator has therefore warned that the non-payment could lead to a complete disconnection from the electricity grid.
It should be noted that the rising debt had earlier forced the Nigerian government to mandate power-generating companies to reduce electricity supply to neighbouring countries.