The 11 electricity distribution companies in Nigeria generated N1.065 trillion as revenue in 2023, a significant improvement over the N828.09 billion realised in the previous year. However, the 28.7 per cent increase in annual revenue came amid poor electricity generation during the same period.
This is so because while all the DisCos made more revenue in 2023, the same could not be said of electricity supplied in the same year. According to the data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), all the DisCos distributed 23,925.51 GWh in 2023, up from 21,817 GWh in 2022.
The overall power supplied last year showed there was an improvement. However, a company-by-company analysis revealed that the increase in power supply came from some, and not all the DisCos.
Specifically, four electricity distribution companies supplied less electricity in 2023 even as they made more revenue, justifying the move by some state governments to take over some of these DisCos in order to improve electricity supply to households and businesses.
Kaduna DisCo supplied 1,099.95 GWh in 2023, down from 1,415 GWh in the previous year. This amounted to a decline of 28.6 per cent in power supply.
Power supply declined by 2.5 per cent in areas covered by the Benin DisCo. It also declined by 1.4 per cent in areas under Kano DisCo, while it marginally fell by 0.3 per cent in areas under Enugu DisCo.
In terms of revenue performance of each distribution company, Ikeja DisCo maintained its unrivalled position by generating N218.61 billion. Its 2023 revenue recorded an increase of 31.7 per cent over the previous year’s N165.98 billion.
Eko DisCo generated N177.59 billion in 2023, amounting to 42.3 per cent increase over N124.79 billion in 2022. Abuja DisCo generated N167.38 billion in 2023 as against N125.67 billion in the previous year, representing an increase of 33.9 per cent. Ibadan DisCo made N111.29 billion in 2023 as against N95.67 billion in 2022.
The top four DisCos in terms of revenue generation collectively made N674.89 billion, representing 63.3 per cent of the total revenue made by the DisCos.
Benin DisCo realised N84.62 billion as against N68.27 billion in the previous year; Enugu DisCo, N82.46 billion compared to N70.74 billion; Port Harcourt DisCo, N74.66 billion compared to N56.96 billion, while Kano DisCo made N55.24 billion compared to N47.86 billion in 2022.
Further, Jos DisCo generated N38.97 billion in 2023 as against N30.17 billion in 2022; Kaduna DisCo generated N32.35 billion in 2023 as against N28.28 billion, while Yola DisCo N22.31 billion in 2023 in contrast to N13.67 billion in 2022.
The NBS further stated that the total number of electricity customers in the country as of December 2023 stood at 10.15 million, out of which those billed by estimation billing system were 5.74 million, and those served by meters were 4.77 million households and businesses.
It would be recalled that recently, the state governments under the coverage of Benin Electricity Distribution Company have made moves to take over the company in order to reposition it for better service delivery as, according to them, it is only by repositioning the firm that it can key into the developmental strides taking place in the states which are Edo, Ekiti, Delta and Ondo.
