The Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) will next week at the Intercontinental Hotel, Balaclava, Mauritius join global content providers and other Internet Exchange Points in Africa at this year’s Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum.
The Chief Executive Officer of IXPN, Mr. Rudman Mohammed disclosed this today in a chat with ITPulse in Lagos.
He said IXPN is participating in the annual event, which serves as a platform to expand and develop the Internet in Africa to network with global content providers and IXPs in an effort to attract them to Nigeria, and ultimately, improve network interconnection, lower the cost of connectivity, and increase locally available content, for the benefit of Internet users in Nigeria.
“Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum is the largest peering event in Africa. IXPN uses the opportunity to network with global content providers to attract them to Nigeria and also to network with other global and African IXPs to discuss topical issues in the world of peering. The event also enables collaboration between African IXPs,” he noted.
The Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum will hold from 20-22 August. Its is being
The forum was created to address the fact that most of Africa’s local Internet traffic is exchanged outside the continent. At the same time, Africa imported over 99 percent of the Internet traffic consumed, which created an “Internet Transit Deficit”. Exchanging traffic locally through Internet Exchange Points (IXP), reduces Internet access costs and network delays and increases content access speeds.
“AfPIF has contributed considerably in changing the Interconnection environment in Africa over the last 10 years. Locally traffic exchanged traffic has increased from less than 1 GB to close to 800 GB today,” explained Dawit Bekele, Africa Regional Bureau Director for the Internet Society. “
He assured that this year’s event will contribute to an even more interconnected African Internet.
This is the first time that the event is being held in Mauritius and the Indian Ocean Islands region, which is seeking to develop its role as an innovation hub for the region. The Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Hon. Yogida Sawmynaden is due to speak at the event and Rogers Capital will act as the local host.