Nigeria’s electricity grid collapsed Tuesday morning, plunging Africa’s most populous nation into darkness for the first time in 2026 and reviving questions about the country’s chronically unstable power infrastructure.
This development marks the second time Nigeria would be plunged into darkness in the new year, after recording its first grid collapse on January 23.
The national grid failed at approximately 11:08 a.m, Nigerian time, according to data gathered by BusinessDay.
Reports say the national distribution load profile at 11:15 am showed that all distribution companies (DisCos), including Abuja, Eko, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Jos, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Yola, had 0 load.
The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), which operates the grid, has not stated the cause of the failure. Restoration efforts are underway, though the timeline for full recovery remains unclear. NISO could not immediately be reached for comment. Data obtained from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (ISO) showed that load allocation to the 11 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) dropped to zero MW as of 11 am on Tuesday.
According to the data from the system operator, the power generation dropped to 39 MW.
The collapse marks a troubling continuation of reliability problems that plagued Nigeria’s power sector throughout 2024, when the grid failed nine times. Those repeated outages disrupted businesses, hospitals, and households across the nation of more than 200 million people, most of whom already face daily power shortages even when the grid operates normally.
Nigeria generates only a fraction of the electricity needed for its economy and population. Even when the grid operates, total generation typically hovers between 4,000 and 5,000 megawatts, far below the estimated 30,000 megawatts required to adequately serve the country.
This development has made businesses and wealthier households to rely heavily on diesel and petrol generators, adding to operating costs and environmental pollution.