17 August 2020

A new report published by the Internet Society (InternetSociety. org) explains the steps African countries can take to bring faster and less expensive internet connectivity to the continent.

The report illustrates how better connectivity represents a key opportu- nity for countries to continue to devel- op more resilient digital economies.
Entitled Anchoring the African Internet Ecosystem: Lessons from Ken- ya and Nigeria’s Internet Exchange Points Growth, the report reveals how a vibrant Internet ecosystem is critical to bringing faster, and more affordable Internet to Africa. Internet exchange points (IXPs), locations where internet service providers (ISPs)
and other network operators meet and exchange Internet traffic, are a critical piece of technical infrastructure that improves Internet access by keep- ing internet traffic local. Without a local IXP, Internet service providers have to use expensive international internet connectivity to exchange and access content (usually hosted abroad).

Allowing traffic to remain local results in faster and more affordable Internet access. The report also gives an update on a study published by the Internet Society in 2012 which examined two of Africa’s more advanced IXPs at the time – KIXP in Kenya and IXPN in Nigeria.

The growth of the IXPs in each country was “exponential”, as were the cost savings from exchanging traffic locally rather than using expensive international transit. In Kenya, KIXP grew from carrying peak traffic of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) in 2012 to 19 Gbps in 2020, with cost savings quadrupling to US$6m per year. In Nigeria, IXPN
grew from carrying just 300 Meg- abits per second (Mbps) to peak traffic of 125 Gbps in 2020, and cost savings increased forty times to US£40m per year.

“Kenya and Nigeria are in a better position than ever before to cope with – and contribute to – the digital revo- lution that Covid-19 has accelerated as the internet becomes a lifeline for many people,” said Michuki Mwangi, senior director of internet technology and development for the Internet Society. “It’s clear Africa is ready to embrace the digital revolution to spur economic development.”