Nigeria imports over 1.3 million meters using World Bank loan
Nigeria has acquired at least 1.37 million electricity meters from China under a $500m World Bank-funded programme to address the country's metering gap. The contract for the first batch of meters was signed in August 2024 and became effective in February 2025. The initiative is part of the Nigeria Distribution Sector Recovery Programme, which aims to improve the performance of electricity distribution companies. Local manufacturers have raised concerns over the preference for imported meters despite domestic production capacity.
TLDR
- The contract for the first batch of 1.44 million meters was signed in August 2024 and became effective in February 2025.
- So far, 408,000 meters have arrived in Nigeria, with 130,000 installed; 95% of the first batch has been manufactured.
- The Nigeria Distribution Sector Recovery Programme was approved on February 4, 2021, with a $500m commitment, but only $69.09m has been disbursed.
- The Presidential Metering Initiative was approved in November 2023, aiming to deploy over five million smart meters by 2027.
- Procurement of a second batch of 1.5 million smart meters was launched on January 12, 2026, and contracts for 217,000 locally produced meters are expected by the end of January 2026.
