Accra, Ghana – 21 August 2023 – Ghana is gearing up to welcome the 12th edition of the African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF), marking the event’s second appearance in the vibrant city of Accra. Hosted by MainOne, an Equinix Company, this year’s conference is scheduled from 22 to 24 August 2023.

AfPIF, an annual event jointly organized by the Internet Society (ISOC) and the African IXP Association (AFIX), is dedicated to fostering interconnection between Internet service providers, content providers, and data centers throughout the African region. It serves as a unique platform for participants to exchange insights, deliberate on emerging trends, and cultivate avenues for collaboration.

AfPIF’s mission is to increase the amount of Internet content and traffic exchanged locally in Africa. This is commonly achieved via Internet exchange points (IXPs) which enable multiple networks to directly interconnect through common infrastructure. This aggregation facilitates large-scale content distribution which improves the speed, cost-effectiveness, and reliability of the Internet. It also reduces the region’s reliance on international intermediaries.

Emmanuel Kwarteng, the Country Manager of MainOne, an Equinix Company, Ghana, expressed enthusiasm about the event, stating,

“Hosting the peering community in Ghana is a tremendous honour for us at MainOne, and we are excited to welcome participants across Africa and beyond to the vibrant city of Accra, the gateway to Africa as we call it. This event resonates deeply with our mission to drive digital inclusivity in our region by facilitating the localization of Africa’s Internet traffic, which in turn improves the speed of content accessibility, lowers Internet access costs and network latency. We look forward to facilitating meaningful discussions and partnerships that will further accelerate Africa’s digital transformation.”

Kyle Spencer, the Executive Director of the African IXP Association, added his perspective, saying,

“AfPIF holds a unique position as a catalyst for enhancing interconnection and peering across Africa. As we gather in Accra, we renew our commitment to strengthening the digital fabric of our continent. By encouraging the local exchange of Internet traffic, AfPIF contributes significantly to the growth of the African digital ecosystem, driving economic progress and empowering communities. We look forward to inspiring discussions and collaborative efforts that will drive the realization of a more connected Africa.”

The forthcoming AfPIF event promises to be dynamic and captivating, featuring a lineup of keynote addresses, panel discussions, technical sessions, and invaluable networking opportunities. Attendees can anticipate gaining profound insights into the most recent industry trends, networking with industry experts, and uncovering opportunities for peering and interconnection within the African landscape.

For more information about the African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF), please visit the official website: www.afpif.org 

About the Internet Society

Founded in 1992 by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society is a global non-profit organization working to ensure the Internet is for everyone. Through its community of members, special interest groups, and 130+ chapters around the world, the organization defends and promotes Internet policies, standards, and protocols that keep the Internet open, globally connected, and secure. For more information, please visit internetsociety.org.

About the African IXP Association

The African IXP Association (Af-IX) is a regional association dedicated to advancing the proliferation of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) across the African continent. By promoting the establishment and growth of IXPs, Af-IX contributes to enhancing local Internet traffic exchange, reducing costs, improving network performance, and fostering digital innovation within Africa. Learn more at: www.af-ix.net

About MainOne, an Equinix Company

MainOne, an Equinix Company is a leading West African connectivity and data center solutions provider, recognized for delivering innovative services that empower digital transformation within West Africa and beyond. As an Equinix Company, MainOne is committed to accelerating the growth of digital economies by providing top-tier data center services, network connectivity solutions, and cloud services. The organization’s endeavors align with the overarching goal of enhancing Internet accessibility, reliability, and affordability for businesses and individuals. Learn more at: www.mainone.net 

Annual event serves as a platform to expand and develop the Internet in Africa

Kigali, Rwanda, 23 August 2022 — Rwanda is for the first time hosting this year’s Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) in Kigali. The forum is organized by the Internet Society (ISOC) and the African IXP Association (AFIX) in collaboration with the Rwanda Internet Community and Technology Alliance (RICTA). Running from 23 to 25 August at the Marriott Hotel, the event has convened stakeholders from across the continent and globally including Meta, Google, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Microsoft, the Internet Initiative Japan Lab, and Africa Data Centers, among others.

The annual event, now in its 11^th edition, serves as a platform to expand and develop the African Internet. It connects infrastructure, service, and content providers to identify ways to improve network interconnection, lower the cost of connectivity, and increase the Internet’s resiliency and experience for local users. It also provides participants with global and regional insights for maximizing opportunities to help grow Internet infrastructure and services in Africa.

AfPIF was created to address the fact that most of Africa’s local Internet traffic is exchanged outside the continent. Exchanging traffic locally through Internet exchange points (IXPs) reduces Internet access costs and network delays and increases content access speeds.

IXPs are technical infrastructures that enable a faster, cheaper, and more reliable Internet experience by bringing multiple networks from the private, public, and educational sectors together to connect and exchange Internet traffic. Instead of using expensive international transit routes, Internet traffic is exchanged locally and access speeds for content can be up to 10 times faster as result.

This year’s AfPIF focuses on Internet interconnection dynamics, content distribution, and transit obstacles at local and regional levels. The Kigali forum marks a return to in-person meetings since AfPIF’s postponement in 2020 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. 

“We have made considerable progress in the establishment of new Internet exchange points (IXPs) while supporting the growth of existing ones. However, we have yet to realize the full impact of exchanging Internet traffic at the 49 IXPs across 35 countries in Africa. For this to be achieved, we are taking lessons from the report ‘Moving Toward an Interconnected Africa: The 80/20 Initiative’ and focusing on growing the number of local, cross-border, and international networks that connect at IXPs. We believe this is possible with enhanced collaboration between Internet service providers, mobile network operators, content providers, large enterprise networks, and policy makers.”

Michuki Mwangi, Distinguished Technologist, Internet Society

“We are honored to host this unique conference. The importance of IXPs in contributing to the overall socio-economic development of Africa cannot be overstated, especially in critical situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. IXPs enable online learning and remote work in such circumstances. Email, videoconferencing, mobile communication, and messaging also make social distancing more bearable, helping people adapt to the new normal. Without these technologies, thousands of companies would not be operational.”

Grace Ingabire Mwikarago, Chief Executive Officer, Rwanda Internet Community and Technology Alliance (RICTA)

“Rwanda is a small landlocked country that promoted its economic development and regional independence by combining progressive telecommunications policy with an investment-friendly business climate. As a key gateway between East and Central Africa, Rwanda is an ideal venue for discussing the challenges and opportunities in our region.”

Kyle Spencer, Co-Coordinator, African IXP Association (AFIX)

“At the heart of the accelerated digital transformation in Africa are the peering and exchanges of the Internet and digital infrastructure. Therefore, it is vital for people from the Internet community to reconvene in person to understand the advancements made and the journey ahead. Liquid Intelligent Technologies is a critical player in the TMT industry, and we are proud to be the platinum sponsor of AfPIF 2022.”

Ben Roberts, Group Chief Technology and Innovations Officer, Liquid Intelligent Technologies

About the Internet Society

Founded by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet. Working through a global community of chapters and members, the Internet Society collaborates with a broad range of groups to promote the technologies that keep the Internet safe and secure, and advocates for policies that enable universal access. The Internet Society is also the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force.

About AFIX

The African IXP Association is a group of Internet Exchange Point (IXP) operators from across Africa, brought together by a shared need to coordinate and exchange knowledge. It aims to foster an enabling environment for IXP operators, improve connectivity within the continent, and increase the Internet’s value for all. AFIX was established in 2012, joined the Internet Exchange Federation in 2014, and now organizes the annual African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF).

About RICTA

RICTA is a not-for-profit organization representing the interests of the Rwandan Internet ccommunity. It was formed in 2005 with the objective of managing the .rw country code top-level domain and the Rwanda Internet Exchange Point, as well as promoting the localisation of local content. RICTA’s impartial position ensures that it enhances and promotes Internet usage in Rwanda.

For more information, please contact:
Allesandra de Santillana
Internet Society
desantillana@isoc.org

Annual event serves as a platform to expand and develop the Internet in Africa

Port Louis, Mauritius – 13 August 2019 – Mauritius will host the 10th anniversary edition of the Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) at the Intercontinental Hotel, Balaclava, from 20-22 August 2019, which is being organised by the Internet Society and African IXP Association (AFIX) in collaboration with Rogers Capital.

AfPIF 2019 will connect and bring key infrastructure, service, and content providers together with policymakers in order to identify and discuss ways to improve network interconnection, lower the cost of connectivity, and increase locally available content, for the benefit of Internet users across the region.

AfPIF is an annual event that serves as a platform to develop the African Internet, and 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% 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. “This is a remarkable The achievement thanks to the strong community established around AfPIF and I am sure that this year’s event will contribute to an even more interconnected African Internet,” he added.

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.

“We are pleased to host AFPIF 2019 in Mauritius especially with the special privilege that this year’s event will coincide with the celebration of its 10 years of existence. As a diversified and sophisticated business hub for the region, we believe Mauritius may help open new business perspectives for the AfPIF delegates. We are looking forward to welcoming the delegates in August 2019 and to providing our support for the development of Internet Infrastructure in Africa,” said Dev Hurkoo, Managing Director, Rogers Capital-Technology.

Over 250 participants from across the African continent are expected to attend the event, with leading technology providers Liquid Telecom, Seacom and Huawei as Platinum sponsors and AFRINIC, Emtel Business, Linx, Microsoft and Rogers Capital as Gold sponsors. A full list of sponsors can be found at: https://www.afpif.org/afpif-10/.

Concluding on the opportunities ahead, Kyle Spencer, Co-Coordinator of the African IXP Association said “our target is to localize 80% of Africa’s Internet traffic by 2020, and I believe we’re well on our way. Packet Clearing House reports that Africa currently sees the highest growth of domestic bandwidth production in the world, registering a 92% increase from 410 Gbps to 786 Gbps within the last 12 months — and our internal industry benchmarking data corroborates this. It’s an exciting time for Africa, and we look forward to building on this momentum in Mauritius.”

About the Internet Society

Founded by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet. Working through a global community of chapters and members, the Internet Society collaborates with a broad range of groups to promote the technologies that keep the Internet safe and secure, and advocates for policies that enable universal access. The Internet Society is also the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

About AF-IX

The African IXP Association (AFIX) is a group of Internet exchange point operators from across Africa, brought together by a shared need to coordinate and exchange knowledge. It aims to foster an enabling environment for IXP operators, improve connectivity within the continent, and increase the Internet’s value for all. AFIX was established in 2012, joined the Internet exchange Federation (IX-F) in 2014, and now organizes the annual African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF).

About Rogers Capital

Rogers Capital is a well-established FinTech company in Mauritius and is a subsidiary of Rogers Group, one of the largest conglomerate listed on the SEM 10 on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. Rogers Capital is a leading Mauritian provider of fiduciary, technology and financial services. Its Technology arm is a leading Infocom solutions provider in Mauritius & the Indian Ocean region with a multi skilled workforce of 125 ICT Professionals and with an ISO/IEC 27001 certified Data Centre.

For more information please contact: 
Betel Hailu – hailu@isoc.org

This post first appeared on the Internet Society’s website.

Rack Centre, one of Africa’s top carrier neutral facilities, is expanding its power capacity to 1.5MW, as the company moves steadily towards over 10MW of power capacity over multiple locations.

Rack Centre has rapidly grown since its establishment in 2013 with a capacity of 350kW, which has grown to the current 750kW as the company grows its service offerings, ensuring reliability 24 hours a day.

Nigeria has had a bad perception with power outage, but Rack Centre boasts of 100 percent service availability since the company went live in 2013, a critical success factor for any company providing carrier neutral data center services.

“We have operated without one second of downtime since our launch in 2013,” said Ayotunde Coker, Rack Centre Managing Director.

In addition to African and Nigerian awards, Rack Centre has received numerous recognitions abroad for its uptime record and track record of exemplary customer satisfaction, including recognition at the DCD Awards in the UK, Datacloud Awards in Monaco, and the Global Carrier Awards at Capacity Europe in London.   Furthermore, the company boasts of being the first commercial company in Sub Saharan Africa to be Tier III Constructed Facility certified by the Uptime Institute. The MD of Rack Centre was awarded the Africa Trailblazer Award by the Uptime Institute in 2018.

“Power availability is a key challenge; however, we also turn that into an advantage. We are power experts and a unique value proposition to customers who do not have steady power for IT infrastructure,” Ayotunde added.

Ayotunde also noted that Rack Center is passionate about lifting startups into complex level businesses through the company’s partnership and incubation network.

“We are creating the future, so unlikely people have all the experience we require.  In Nigeria, we have fantastic available raw talent, so it comes down to leadership context to deliver the best of the raw material which we do at Rack Centre.  The key differentiator is leadership context, vision and delivery excellence, all of which we focus on at Rack Centre,” Ayotunde noted.

The Rack Centre neutral carrier ecosystem comprises carriers such as Orange and other international carriers such as WIOCC and BringCom. Rack Centre has 5 undersea cables servicing the Atlantic Coast of Africa and the cables are directly connected and can be accessed through at least 12 different carriers of over 36 carriers resident at the facility.