Field-Based Network Audit as a Strategy for Addressing Commercial and Collection Losses in Sub-Saharan African Power Distribution: Evidence from a Nigerian Power Utility

Commercial and collection losses remain a critical challenge confronting power distribution utility in sub-Saharan Africa, contributing to financial instability, poor service quality, and widespread energy poverty. This paper presents an evidence-based case study of the Project Network Comb (PNC) initiative, a structured field audit and back-end data reconciliation methodology deployed in the BU-X Business Unit of a Nigerian electricity distribution company. Covering 515 streets and 9,708 premises across a 142.1 km route, the project identified 8,723 field loss points and 3,526 back-end data infractions, comprising illegal consumers, compromised meters, misclassified tariffs, and unmatched customer records. Results reveal that prepayment meter (PPM) compromise (unsealed meters) accounted for 37.3% of detected losses, while illegal consumption and obsolete credit meters collectively represented approximately 30% of infractions. The methodology integrates geographic information (GPS coordinates via OSM Tracker), street-level customer enumeration, and systematic billing-vending reconciliation, supported by visual outputs including coverage mapping, customer composition analysis, and loss-point disaggregation. Findings demonstrate that micro-level, streetwise field operations, when combined with rigorous back-end data review, provide actionable intelligence to drive revenue assurance, improve metering accuracy, and reduce non-technical losses (NTL). The study contributes empirical evidence to the literature on utility loss reduction strategies, draws parallels with Mini-grid revenue assurance challenges and developed-economy smart metering governance, and offers a replicable framework for distribution companies in developing economies.