The Nigerian Power Supply Industry (NESI) received a total payment of $50.36 million from international bilateral customers in 2023 for the delivery of power, including Niger, Benin, and Togo.
This can be seen in the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) 2023 annual report and account, which The News Chronicles was able to view on Tuesday.
According to the study, these three clients paid a $53.55 million invoice in the same year, resulting in a 94.04% remittance performance.
The following customers are:
- Societe Nigerienne d’electricite (Niger)
- Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (Togo)
- Societe Beninoise d’Energie Electrique (Benin Republic)
Domestic Partners in Trade
According to NERC data, NESI has 19 active domestic bilateral customers as of 2023.
In addition to the three overseas clients, nineteen domestic bilateral clients were active during the year.
Although these nineteen clients billed a substantial N10,320.84 million, their payment performance was generally worse. With N8,766.15 million in payments made by these consumers, their remittance performance was 84.94%.
This result indicates that the customers were able to remit a significant amount of their debt, but a noticeable shortfall of 15.06% remained unpaid.
Breakdown:
Three Key International Bilateral Customers:
- Invoice: $53.55 million
- Payment: $50.36 million
- Remittance Performance: 94.04%
Nineteen Active Domestic Bilateral Customers:
- Invoice: N10,320.84 million
- Payment: N8,766.15 million
- Remittance Performance: 84.94%
This comparison shows that whereas the top three clients had almost faultless remittance rates, the larger group of nineteen bilateral customers had more difficulty fulfilling their payment obligations.
What To Note
According to a Federal Government report from the previous year, foreign electrical users owed Nigeria almost $51.26 million for the electricity that Nigeria exported to them.
In May, Nigerian power sector system operators received an order from the Federal Government requiring them to provide at most 6% of the total hourly grid generation to foreign clients or off-takers.
The Nigerian Power Regulatory Commission (NERC) has directed power production companies to curtail offtake by distribution companies (Discos) during system instabilities and prioritize international clients. The NERC deemed this technique unfair and inefficient.
The new order requires electrical-producing businesses to allocate no more than 10% of their generation capacity to foreign off-takers for the next six months.
