World Bank has confirmed that Nigeria’s $500 million Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP) will continue as planned, alleviating concerns about the future of critical electricity sector reforms following the cancellation of part of the broader Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) financing.
According to a report by BusinessDay on Wednesday, DISREP as a program supported by the World Bank focuses on enhancing the financial and technical performance of Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos). The programme invests in metering, network rehabilitation, and operational efficiency improvements.
Worries surfaced within the power sector after the cancellation of the $717 million undisbursed portion of the PSRP financing facility, raising fears that related initiatives like DISREP, which operates under the PSRP framework, might also be jeopardized.
However, the World Bank clarified that DISREP remains fully active and supported. Mansir Nasir, Senior External Affairs Officer at the World Bank Group, told reporters on Wednesday, “The World Bank Group remains fully committed to supporting the Nigeria Distribution Sector Recovery Program, which is improving metering and distribution performance.”
Nasir emphasized the Bank’s ongoing partnership with the Nigerian Federal Government to enhance electricity supply and energy access. Beyond DISREP, the Bank also supports other projects such as the Nigeria Electricity Transmission Project, aimed at strengthening transmission infrastructure, and the Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) project, which expands off-grid and renewable energy access as part of the World Bank’s Mission 300 initiative across Africa.
The latest Implementation Status and Results Report (ISR) for DISREP, published in March 2026, maintained a “Moderately Satisfactory” rating for both progress toward development objectives and overall implementation performance. The report highlighted steady progress across key components following a restructuring approval in December 2024.
A significant achievement under DISREP is the ongoing rollout of smart meters. The World Bank noted that of the 1.44 million smart meter contracts signed in August 2024, about 400,000 meters have already been delivered to Nigeria. Additionally, procurement for another 1.5 million smart meters, contracts for 217,000 meters procured through limited bidding, and meter data management system contracts are expected to be launched in January 2026.
Customer meter installations increased from 129,000 in January 2026 to 265,000 by March 10, 2026, against a target of 3.2 million meters by December 2027.
The programme’s core goal remains to improve the operational and financial performance of DisCos. Performance indicators show gradual improvements: Nigeria’s metering gap declined from 60.6% in October 2020 to 53.4% by January 2026; billing efficiency rose from 79.2% in December 2023 to 82.12%; and collection performance improved from 66% in April 2023 to 75.56% by January 2026.
The report also revealed that 292,000 Nigerians gained direct electricity access through new connections by March 2026, up from 105,780 in January. More than three million electricity customers have been mapped using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and eight management information systems have been deployed under the programme.
Despite these gains, the World Bank assigned a “Substantial” overall risk rating to DISREP, citing political and governance risks, macroeconomic pressures, fiduciary challenges, institutional capacity limitations, and environmental and social risks. Some governance reforms remain incomplete, notably the integration of DISREP into DisCos’ fraud and corruption complaints redress mechanisms, expected to conclude by March 2026.
On management, the Bank disclosed the appointment of a new DISREP Programme Coordinator to oversee daily operations.
Financially, $73.63 million has been disbursed from the $500 million facility (about 14.73%), with over $403 million still undisbursed.
The programme’s closing date has been extended from June 2026 to May 2028, providing the Federal Government and DisCos additional time to implement reforms and achieve targets.
