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Africa to Expand Internet Exchange Points

By Khalifa Hemed
Published December 4, 2018

Dawit Bekele, Africa Regional Bureau Director for Internet Society says "The Internet community adopted the goal of having at least 80% of the Internet traffic consumed in Africa being locally accessible, and only 20% sourced outside the continent by the year 2020."A new partnership to develop Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) throughout Africa has been announced.

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Internet Society, a not-for-profit organization that says it is ‘dedicated to the open development, evolution and use of the Internet’, says it has partnered with Facebook to develop internet connectivity across Africa.

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An IXP enables multiple networks, internet service providers (ISPs) and content providers interconnect their networks together to efficiently exchange Internet traffic.

Internet Society says 42% of countries in Africa lack IXPs and that their Internet traffic is exchanged through through satellite or submarine fiber across multiple international hubs, resulting in poor end-user experiences.

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The  partnership fronted by Facebook and Internet Society is meant to help expand Internet Exchange Points across Africa.pngIn an arrangement announced in September 2018, Internet Society and Facebook say they are collaborating in promoting IXP infrastructure development, training and community engagement with the objective of increasing the number of IXPs and supporting the expansion of existing IXPs to meet the growing demand in Africa.

“The Internet community adopted the goal of having at least 80% of the Internet traffic consumed in Africa being locally accessible, and only 20% sourced outside the continent by the year 2020,”explains Dawit Bekele, Africa Regional Bureau Director for Internet Society. “We are getting closer to that target thanks to the many activities that promote interconnection and hosting in Africa and to partnerships such as the one we are announcing today with Facebook.”

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Kojo Boakye, Head of Connectivity and Access in charge of Africa at Facebook says the new partnership "will help develop Africa's IXP ecosystem by deploying resources like training and equipment to the areas where they are most urgently needed."“Our partnership with the Internet Society will help develop Africa’s IXP ecosystem by deploying resources like training and equipment to the areas where they are most urgently needed,” says Kojo Boakye, Head of Connectivity and Access in charge of Africa at Facebook.

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