International power buyers achieve 84.90% remittance rate Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Nigeria’s power sector generated significant cross-border and domestic revenues in 2025, receiving a total of approximately N87.85 billion ($62.75 million)
International power buyers achieve 84.90% remittance rate
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Nigeria’s power sector generated significant cross-border and domestic revenues in 2025, receiving a total of approximately N87.85 billion ($62.75 million) at an exchange rate of N1,400/dollar in electricity tariff payments from its international bilateral customers in Niger, Togo, and the Republic of Benin.
Official figures extracted from the just released 2025 Annual Report of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) revealed that the Market Operator (MO) issued an aggregate invoice of $73.91 million to three neighbouring international power utilities.
The utilities include: Société Beninoise d’Energie Electrique of Benin, Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo, and Société Nigerienne d’electricité of Niger.
Out of this total bill, a THISDAY review indicated that the international off-takers remitted $62.75 million, representing an overall remittance performance of 84.90 percent and demonstrating significantly sustained cross-border financial liquidity.
Despite suffering severe domestic supply deficits, Nigeria exports electricity to neighbouring countries like Niger, Benin, and Togo primarily due to strategic geopolitical treaties, river damming agreements, and regional energy commitments under the West African Power Pool (WAPP).
Chief among these is a longstanding legal and environmental arrangement regarding the River Niger wherein Nigeria agreed to guarantee continuous power supply to upstream neighbours in exchange for their commitment not to dam or divert the river’s flow before it reaches Nigeria.
This is because major Nigerian hydroelectric assets such as the Kainji, Jebba, and Shiroro dams depend heavily on an unhindered water inflow. Therefore, providing electricity to these nations acts as a vital geopolitical compromise to protect Nigeria’s own hydro-generation capabilities and downstream security.
In addition to water rights diplomacy, power exports serve as a crucial source of the much needed foreign exchange and financial liquidity for Nigeria’s power market.
Similarly, the NERC data showed that domestic bilateral customers operating within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) grid demonstrated some level of payment compliance during the regulatory period. Domestic bilateral off-takers received a combined invoice of N13.20 billion from the Market Operator and settled N12.75 billion, achieving a strong 96.60 percent remittance rate.
On the domestic retail distribution front, Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) recorded aggregate revenue collections of N2.31 trillion against a total issued bill of N2.98 trillion to end-use electricity consumers across the country.
The performance represented a national collection efficiency of 77.60 percent, meaning that for every N100 worth of energy billed to domestic consumers in 2025, roughly N22.40 went unrecovered, leaving an uncollected revenue balance of N669.49 billion.
According to the NERC figures, regional financial performances across the distribution network showed stark operational disparities between utilities operating in industrial commercial hubs and those covering vast, lower-density territories.
It showed that Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) led the nation with an 87.90 per cent collection efficiency by recovering N424 billion out of N482.35 billion billed. Besides, Ikeja Electric followed with an 87.89 per cent efficiency rate, collecting N440.86 billion from N501.61 billion in issued bills, while Benin Disco secured an 84.17 per cent collection efficiency by recovering N202.68 billion.
Conversely, utilities in mostly northern operations struggled with commercial collection. Kaduna Disco recorded the lowest performance in the country at 45.68 per cent, collecting only N51.38 billion out of N112.48 billion billed.
Jos Disco similarly lagged behind with a 46.11 per cent efficiency rate, recovering N67.77 billion against bills totaling N146.98 billion, underscoring ongoing difficulties with tariff recovery, consumer willingness to pay, and infrastructure challenges in those coverage areas.
Regarding wholesale grid market obligations, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and the Market Operator issued a total gross invoice of N1.721 trillion to the eleven distribution companies for energy supply and grid administrative service costs.
It showed that Discos remitted N1.63 trillion back into the market, translating to an overall market remittance performance of 94.80 percent.
A disaggregated performance analysis revealed that Eko, Ikeja, and Port Harcourt Discos attained 100 per cent remittance compliance to NBET for energy drawn during the year.
Furthermore, Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Port Harcourt, and Yola Discos achieved full 100 per cent remittance performance to the Market Operator for service fees. At the lower end of the spectrum, Kaduna Disco recorded the lowest remittance rates to both market entities, posting 40.13 per cent to NBET and 48.11 percent to the Market Operator.
However, despite headline revenue growth across the grid, systemic operational inefficiencies continued to bottleneck the sector’s financial viability. NESI recorded a weighted average Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) loss of 37.03 per cent in 2025.
The total loss was composed of an 18.86 per cent technical and commercial loss (energy delivered but unbilled due to system line losses, theft, and inaccurate metering) and a 22.40 percent collection loss (billed energy left unpaid).
Overall, the NERC data showed that the 37.03 per cent actual loss recorded by the industry missed the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MY TO) target loss benchmark of 20.54 per cent by 16.49 percentage points.
