As well as having contracts with countries such as Niger, Togo and Benin, Nigerian power firms have bilateral contracts with big users at home including industries and government departments that get priority supply over regular customers.
Analysts said the cap on overseas sales could create uncertainty in the sector. “Operationally, it will require power generation companies to adjust production and distribution, and potentially modify contracts on short notice,” said Mikolaj Judson, an analyst at global risk consultancy Control Risks.
He also said it will likely increase financial challenges by reducing revenue from overseas customers and will require power distribution firms, many of which already owe sizeable debts to power generation companies, to step up paying back their debts.
Electricity supply from the national grid had hovered below 3,000 megawatts for several weeks but has risen above 4,700 megawatts since Saturday after the directive, grid service data showed. Usually, local customers get less than 4000MW on normal days.