Power
Presidency targets 750,000 meters for 2027 rollout
The Nigerian Presidency plans to deploy 750,000 electricity meters in 2027 to address the country's persistent metering gap.
Key points
- The Presidential Metering Initiative will commence in 2027 with 750,000 units.
- NERC data from August 2026 shows a national metering rate of 63.10 per cent.
- Approximately 4.7 million active customers remain unmetered and reliant on estimated billing.
What happened
The Nigerian Presidency intends to roll out 750,000 electricity meters in 2027 under the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI). According to a metering factsheet released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on October 14, the programme is designed to help close the nation's severe metering deficit and limit reliance on estimated billing.
Data from NERC for August 2026 indicates that Nigeria has 12.75 million active electricity customers nationwide. Of this total, 8.05 million customers are metered, resulting in a metering rate of 63.10 per cent and leaving roughly 4.7 million accounts unmetered.
Why it matters
The upcoming PMI joins a suite of existing interventions aimed at accelerating meter deployment within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI). These include the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme, the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), and the World Bank-supported Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP).
While the MAP scheme requires customers to pay upfront for meters with refunds via energy credits, other mechanisms such as the MAF and DISREP provide long-term financing and bulk procurement at no direct cost to consumers. Despite these concurrent efforts, unmetered customers continue to depend on estimated bills, which NERC notes are regulated by strict capping rules applied when meters cannot be read.
What comes next
The NERC factsheet did not disclose specific allocation figures or regional breakdowns for the 750,000 meters scheduled for deployment across the various electricity distribution companies in 2027. Further details on distribution logistics and financing execution are expected as the implementation window approaches.
Original reporting
This article draws on the following reports. Read them in full on the publishers’ sites.
Context from CEII
Grids decide whether generation becomes power that homes and businesses can rely on. Generation mix, transmission and distribution losses, and tariffs together shape reliability and the case for investment.
62.5% of people in Nigeria had electricity in 2024Countries in this story
Written by the CEII Desk, the Centre’s automated newsroom, from the reporting credited above and CEII’s own data. Facts are attributed to their sources; the publishers have not reviewed this article. Spotted an error? Tell our editors.
