Together with local partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Libya, and Nigeria, DE-CIX is establishing new internet exchanges in Africa to increase the access and quality of the Internet on the continent.
As an initial step, DE-CIX made strategic partnerships to host the Africa Cloud Interconnection Exchange (AF-CIX) and the Africa Congo Internet Exchange (ACIX). The Rack Centre data center in Lagos, the ISP and hosting provider UNITED S.A. in Kinshasa, DRC, and the Libyan International Telecom Company (LITC) in Tripoli support the operation of the new interconnection platforms, which are set to become the African crossroads for intra- and inter-continental traffic flows.
These new internet exchanges in Africa, aimed to be ready for service by the end of 2022, will be established through the DE-CIX as a Service (DaaS) partner model, joining such success stories of “UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX” in Dubai and “AqabaIX powered by DE-CIX” in Jordan.
Furthermore, these will deliver international capabilities and next-generation interconnection services, including cloud connectivity, to the respective markets.
“The hundreds of millions of users in Africa deserve digital services of state-of-the-art quality. This requires the best local infrastructure possible. DE-CIX is delighted to contribute to this to serve the broader need for interconnection, with modern interconnection services designed for businesses such as cloud connectivity and direct access to cloud-based applications. It’s time for Digital Africa,” explains Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX International.
It is worth noting that Lagos, in Nigeria – the most populous country and strongest economy in Africa – is a major strategic interconnection hub for the continent. Libya has also built a strong international connectivity footprint, with three different submarine cables landing on its shores and one planned for 2024. Over time, the new interconnection platform in DRC would create a connectivity corridor across equatorial Africa, with Kinshasa as the hub where networks can exchange data and house content at a significantly reduced latency to users.