Togo is pushing to buy more electricity from Nigeria, even as records show the West African nation remains among a group of countries owing Nigeria tens of millions of dollars in unpaid power bills.
The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Jennifer Adighije, confirmed on Sunday that she had hosted a delegation from Togo’s national electricity utility, the Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (C.E.E.T.), for talks centered on expanding the volume of electricity Togo currently imports from Nigeria.
The visiting delegation, led by C.E.E.T. Director General Débo K’mba Barandao told their Nigerian counterparts that Togo’s power grid is buckling under the weight of rising domestic demand and that Nigeria’s supply has become indispensable to keeping the lights on.
Togo presently purchases approximately 75 megawatt hours of electricity from NDPHC under a bilateral supply arrangement, a volume that Barandao said is no longer sufficient to meet the country’s growing needs.
“In view of this development, C.E.E.T. is strongly interested in increasing the volume of electricity it offtakes from NDPHC,” he said, pointing to a rapid expansion in the number of consumers joining Togo’s national grid, particularly within the industrial and commercial sectors.
Barandao credited government-led electrification programs for the surge in new connections, which, while a policy success, have placed unprecedented pressure on the national network.
He stressed that the Nigerian supply has not merely been supplementary; it has been critical to sustaining affordable and reliable electricity for households, businesses, and public institutions, while anchoring the stability of Togo’s grid.
NDPHC’s Adighije responded warmly to the request, reaffirming her company’s commitment to deepening energy cooperation across West Africa. She noted that NDPHC operates several power plants under the “National Integrated Power Project (NIPP),” which she said provides sufficient capacity to support increased electricity exports to neighboring countries.
She also framed the proposed expansion within the wider architecture of regional energy integration, describing it as consistent with goals set by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to strengthen electricity trade among member states.
However, Adighije was careful to attach clear conditions to any agreement. She stressed that expanded exports would only proceed based on “bankable and sustainable commercial agreements,” including credible financial guarantees and structured payment mechanisms, language that signals Nigeria’s awareness of the financial risks inherent in cross-border electricity trade.
Beneath the diplomatic cordiality of Sunday’s meeting lies a more uncomfortable reality: Togo, along with Niger and Benin, currently owes Nigeria a combined “$17.8 million,” equivalent to over ₦25 billion, for electricity already supplied under existing bilateral arrangements.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) disclosed the figure in January, drawing from its “Third Quarter 2025 report.”
According to the regulator, the market operator invoiced the three international customers a total of “$18.69 million” during the period, but they collectively remitted only “$7.125 million,” leaving an outstanding balance of “$11.56 million” on current invoices alone.
When legacy debt is factored in, of which $6.23 million remains unpaid from a prior outstanding of $14.07 million, the total debt owed to Nigeria by its three electricity customers climbs to “$17.6 million.”
The figures raise pressing questions about the commercial viability of expanding supply to countries that have struggled to pay for what they already consume and lend weight to Adighije’s insistence on robust financial structures as a precondition for any new deal.
Nigeria’s decision to export electricity to its neighbors despite well-documented domestic power shortages has long attracted scrutiny at home. Officials have, however, consistently justified the arrangement on three grounds: fulfilling “long-term regional treaty obligations,” earning “foreign exchange,” and maintaining adequate “water flow from the Niger River” into major hydroelectric dams, a hydrological necessity that underpins domestic generation capacity.
For many Nigerians who endure daily power cuts, the logic remains difficult to accept. Yet for the governments and businesses of Togo, Niger, and Benin, Nigerian electricity has quietly become a pillar of economic stability, one they are now seeking to expand even as their debts to Abuja continue to mount.
No formal agreement was announced following Sunday’s meeting. The talks appear to represent an early-stage expression of intent, with both sides signalling goodwill while the hard work of hammering out commercially viable terms remains ahead.
For the deal to move forward, Togo will likely need to demonstrate not only that it can pay for increased volumes of electricity going forward but also that it has a credible plan to address the significant arrears already on Nigeria’s books.
Whether Abuja’s appetite for regional diplomacy will ultimately outweigh its commercial caution in a sector already plagued by domestic underfunding remains to be seen.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Togo’s request to buy more electricity from Nigeria is a reasonable one driven by genuine domestic demand growth, but it arrives at an awkward moment.
The country is among three West African nations that already owe Nigeria $17.8 million in unpaid power bills, a fact that cuts to the heart of the matter: Nigeria has signaled it will only expand exports under credible financial guarantees and structured payment terms.
