Nigeria’s Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) generated N431.16 billion in revenue during the second quarter of 2024, achieving a collection efficiency of 79.31%, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) latest report. This performance reflects a slight increase of 0.20 percentage points compared to the previous quarter’s 79.11% efficiency.
The rise in collection efficiency signals an improvement in the DisCos’ ability to recover billed revenues, even as the power sector continues to face operational and financial hurdles. The total billing for Q2 2024 stood at N543.64 billion.
The report also highlights the remittance to upstream market players. DisCos were invoiced a total of N399.53 billion, including N343.76 billion for generation costs adjusted by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) and N55.77 billion for services provided by the Market Operator (MO). Of this, DisCos remitted N318.65 billion, leaving a balance of N80.88 billion, representing a remittance performance of 79.76%, a decline from the 96.93% recorded in Q1 2024.
The report points out similar issues with special and bilateral customers. Four international customers paid $9.81 million out of an invoiced $15.60 million for services in Q2 2024, while domestic bilateral customers paid N1.2 billion against a billed N1.9 billion.
Despite multiple government interventions, including the federal government’s N130 billion payment towards a N1.3 trillion debt owed to gas suppliers, Nigeria’s power sector continues to struggle with underinvestment and liquidity issues. The government has already disbursed N205 billion to gas suppliers in an effort to boost electricity supply nationwide. However, challenges in achieving optimal collection rates and managing remittances remain significant, underscoring deeper issues in Nigeria’s power distribution sector.
