Lagos, Nigeria – Nigeria has purchased at least 1.37 million electricity meters from China under a $500 million World Bank-funded programme, as the Federal Government moves to close a metering gap affecting millions of electricity consumers nationwide.
Okay News reports that the procurement falls under the Nigeria Distribution Sector Recovery Programme, approved in February 2021. According to a restructuring paper released by the World Bank, a contract for the first batch of 1.44 million meters was signed in August 2024 and became effective in February 2025. The bank noted that 95 percent of this first batch—approximately 1.37 million units—have now been manufactured in China and are either already shipped or awaiting shipment to Nigeria.
To date, 408,000 meters have arrived in the country, of which 130,000 have been installed. The programme aims to improve the financial and technical performance of Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies, which have long struggled with inefficiencies. Currently, close to 60 percent of electricity customers connected to the national grid remain unmetered, according to the World Bank. Closing this gap is a top priority for distribution companies that suffer significant losses, with the majority stemming from non-technical issues.
The restructuring paper links the programme to the Presidential Metering Initiative, approved in November 2023. That initiative aims to deploy over five million smart meters by 2027 and reduce Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection losses from over 40 percent to 20 percent within three years. The Distribution Sector Recovery Programme supports this goal by procuring an additional 3.2 million meters. Nigeria currently has over seven million unmetered customers and an estimated three million cascading connections, bringing the total metering gap to about 10 million customers.
Beyond the first batch of meters, the bank stated that contracts for 217,000 domestically procured smart meters are expected to be signed by the end of January 2026. Furthermore, procurement for a second batch of 1.5 million smart meters was launched on January 12, 2026. Based on an average household size of 4.1 persons, the World Bank estimates that the 3.2 million meters to be installed under the programme will provide electricity access to about four million people.
However, the procurement from Chinese firms has sparked opposition from local manufacturers. The Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria has criticised the award of meter contracts to foreign companies despite existing in-country production capacity. The association, which represents 40 certified local meter manufacturers and assemblers, supports President Bola Tinubu’s ‘Nigeria First Policy’, which bans the importation of goods that can be produced locally. Durosola Omogbengun, President of the Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria, expressed concerns about contracts with Chinese firms, citing slow delivery and high costs. He urged the government to prioritise local manufacturing to stimulate industrial growth and job creation, adopting National Competitive Bidding as the default mechanism to ensure local content inclusion.
Deployment progress remains slow. At a press briefing in Abuja led by Ayodeji Gbeleyi, Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, stakeholders reviewed the programme’s status. Adedayo Olowoniyi, Chief Technical Adviser to the Minister of Power, described the installation numbers as “not an encouraging statistic,” noting that only 150,000 to 200,000 meters had been deployed so far. He stressed that the programme is critical to fixing the distribution segment, widely regarded as the weakest link in Nigeria’s power value chain.
What happens next depends on accelerating meter installation and resolving tensions between imported and locally manufactured units. The success of the Presidential Metering Initiative will also determine whether Nigeria can meet its 2027 target of deploying five million smart meters and significantly reducing technical and commercial losses.
