Nigeria is set to host the 15th edition of the African Peering & Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) from August 19th to 21st in the city of Lagos.

Over 500 leaders and experts from the global Internet industry will gather in Lagos to examine the current state of Africa’s Internet ecosystem and explore ways to promote infrastructure development, network interconnection, and content hosting. These efforts aim to reduce costs, enhance performance, and strengthen Africa’s digital sovereignty in an increasingly interconnected world.

Participants will include Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), data centers, content delivery networks, cloud services, submarine cable operators, Internet service providers, as well as government representatives, researchers, development agencies, community networks, academia, hardware vendors, and the media.

Hosted at the Lagos Continental Hotel, AfPIF 2025 will focus on the West African region’s policy environment, carrier neutral data center market, and content delivery ecosystem. The programme will feature workshops, keynotes, panel discussions, bilateral meetings, lightning talks, and networking socials to create a dynamic space for networking, knowledge exchange, and business development.

Organised by the African IXP Association (AFIX) with the support of the Internet Society (ISOC) and hosted by the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), Rack Centre, and AF-CIX, AfPIF provides the African Internet community with a unique platform to address shared challenges and emerging opportunities.

“For over 15 years, AfPIF has united the African Internet community to advance local network interconnection and traffic exchange across the continent. This has spurred investment in data centers, content hosting, and cross-border infrastructure — reducing costs, boosting performance, and broadening access while strengthening Africa’s economic independence and digital sovereignty” said African IXP Association Executive Director, Kyle Spencer. “We look forward to continuing this work in Lagos.”

“This year marks a significant milestone for Africa’s peering and interconnection community and the AfPIF event. It is the first time the AfPIF event is taking place in Africa’s most influential country, Nigeria, and under the new leadership of the African IXP Association. There is no better place to reimagine the future of peering and interconnection for the continent than in Lagos.

“It presents a platform to unlock cross-border infrastructure and traffic exchange across West Africa and a unique opportunity to discuss the east-to-west Africa terrestrial infrastructure gaps that can improve the region’s Internet resilience. We value and remain supportive of the community’s effort to address these and other priorities to advance Africa’s digital future.” said Michuki Mwangi, the Distinguished Technologist for Internet Growth at the Internet Society.

On behalf of the local hosts, Muhammed Rudman, the CEO of IXPN, emphasized their excitement to host AfPIF in Nigeria this year.

“We look forward to welcoming key stakeholders from the peering and interconnectivity ecosystem to Lagos. Together, we can create a dynamic environment that fosters collaboration among African countries, strengthens our Internet ecosystem, and enhances Internet access for underserved and unserved communities,” he said.

IHS Nigeria, part of the IHS Holding Limited (“IHS Towers”) group, one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count, and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) are pleased to announce the launch of Nigeria’s first digital museum of antiquities, marking an important step towards digitizing Nigeria’s cultural heritage.

Unveiled today by the Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Olugbile Holloway, this landmark initiative represents a significant milestone in modernizing the preservation and promotion of Nigeria’s cultural assets and making them more accessible to a global audience.

The digital museum is the first significant project under the NCMM’s Digital Culture Initiative. Aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the initiative is designed to provide a platform for the exploration and appreciation of Nigeria’s diverse cultural heritage. It also demonstrates the power of public-private sector partnerships and underscores IHS Nigeria’s commitment to sustainability and its role in helping foster cultural preservation and digital education.

Mohamad Darwish, CEO, IHS Nigeria, commented, “Today is a proud moment for us as we see the digital museum come alive. As a company deeply rooted in Nigeria, we are excited to have played a key part in this groundbreaking effort to preserve and promote Nigeria’s cultural heritage, while also making it accessible to people around the world.

“The success of this partnership with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments and the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, reinforces our commitment to the innovative use of technology to promote education, transform communities and drive economic growth. I look forward to seeing how this will help evolve the museum culture in Nigeria, as well as appreciation for Nigeria’s rich history globally.”

Hannatu Musawa, Nigeria’s Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, commented, “This historic event marks a transformative milestone in the preservation, promotion, and accessibility of Nigeria’s vast cultural heritage. For the first time, authentic Nigerian antiquities will be showcased in an innovative digital space, making our rich history and artistic expression accessible to audiences both within and beyond our borders. This initiative not only preserves our heritage, but also projects Nigeria’s cultural legacy onto the global stage.

This remarkable achievement would not have been possible without the valuable partnership between the National Commission for Museums and Monuments and IHS Nigeria. Their collaborative vision and commitment to cultural advancement have set a new benchmark for public-private partnerships.

“This partnership exemplifies the power of collective effort in driving innovation, fostering national pride, and enhancing the creative economy. I urge all Nigerians and the international community to embrace this new era of digital cultural engagement, as we continue to celebrate and safeguard our national treasures for generations to come.”

Olugbile Holloway, Director General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, commented, “The launch of this digital museum represents a groundbreaking idea finally brought to fruition. The vision behind this museum is to make Nigeria’s heritage more accessible to a wider, younger, tech savvy audience. It is our hope that this first iteration of the digital museum will serve as a starting point for building a digital repository of real-life Nigerian antiquities that we will continue to expand over time.

In creating this digital museum, over 200 actual antiquities from our collection at the National Museum Lagos have been 3D scanned and placed in an immersive environment. Each object is also tagged with the relevant educational material to provide viewers with more information on the object being displayed.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank IHS Nigeria for their invaluable partnership and support in bringing this vision to life and look forward to future collaborations to further display Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage to an even broader audience.”

The Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC) is wooing Nigerian investors to patronise its research outputs by embracing domestic resource based manufacturing that would end Nigeria’s industrial dependency.

The RMRDC made at the Nigeria Manufacturing and Equipment/Nigerian Raw Materials (NME/NIRAM) Expo 2025 through its Director Agricultural and Agro Allied Raw Materials Department, Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Dr. Sab C. Ebiriekwe, and the Managing Director of Jola Global Industries Limited, Dr. Moses Omojola, who was formerly a director with RMRDC.

They pointed out that the Nigerian manufacturing sector is relying on importation for over 75 per cent of its industrial inputs while about 80 per cent of manufacturing firms in Nigeria are owned by foreigners.

Ebiriekwe said in his presentation titled “Harnessing Local Resources: Enhancing Value Addition Through Innovation in Raw Material Sourcing” that Nigeria is grappling with industrial dependency despite being endowed with vast natural resources, adding that no country industrialises sustainably without local raw material transformation through innovation.

He said that despite the abundance of local raw materials, only 35 per cent of local manufacturers in Nigeria could rely on steady access to local raw materials.

He added that a gap exists between research outcome and practical application as “only 5.0 per cent of research outputs reach commercialisation.”

According to him, Nigeria’s failure to beneficiate and industrialise its raw material is hindering its bid for economic diversification, jobs creation and export competitiveness.

“As value of industrial raw material imported in 2023 was N2.41 trillion; share of imported manufacturing inputs are over 75 per cent and non-oil export is dominated by unprocessed raw/agro products.”

Omojola, who retired as a director with RMRDC, said during the panel session that about 80 per cent of industries in Nigeria are owned by foreigners, especially Asians.

He asked: “How come Nigerians are going into manufacturing? I have lectured in the university and have worked in RMRDC for 25 years but I told myself that it will be disservice to leave RMRDC without taking home one project. And to the glory of  God I am today a manufacturer in Ekiti State.”

According to him, manufacturing “is very stressful but more rewarding,” which is the reason Asians are coming to Nigeria? “When I ask my Asian friends why they are in Nigeria they will reply that Nigeria is good. And now that I have started manufacturing, I have known that Nigeria is good,” he said.

Omojola also challenged politicians to invest the money they have made from politics into manufacturing in order to create more jobs in the economy.

“We should be going into resource based industry. I produce vegetable oil. Today, Indonesia and Malaysia cannot bring in vegetable oil into Nigeria because our own price is cheaper than their own. Therefore, no imported vegetable oil can compete with us,” he said.

The Founder of AfricanFarmer Discovery Hub, Mr. AfricanFarmer Mogaji, said that chemical extracted from water leaf had been used to coat mugs by Oluwa Glass in Ondo State.

“That was innovation. But unfortunately, it was not scaled. In Ibadan, the shell of the cashew nut had been used in making brake pads. We can revisit these innovations at Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) level,” Mogaji said.

He also urged retire military generals to invest in manufacturing like their counterparts in Malaysia that funded Malaysia’s turn around.

However, the Managing Director of Spectra Industries Limited, Mr. Duro Kuteyi, said that absence of government’s policies that could protect the SMEs is one of the reasons Nigerians are not going into manufacturing.

Kuteyi said: “Unless government will come up with policy the way India is protecting its products and SMEs, it will take time for us to grow.

“I started using Nigerian raw materials to make products like natural cocoa powder that is good for diabetics, hypertension, etc. We also use soya as one of our basic raw materials.

“But as it is currently, SMEs are finding it difficult in the market place where they are competing with multinationals that are ready to kill them and kill them totally.

“A multinationals firm went to the market and offered generators to my customers to stop dealing on my products.”

The Managing Director of FACCO West Africa, Mr. Femi Adelayo, said that wealthy Nigerians should be encouraged to embrace manufacturing rather than buying houses in Dubai.

Adelayo also said that manufacturers should be supported with a holistic robust policy to ensure their survival and enable Nigeria to withstand the emerging global trade dynamics that is being characterised by punitive tariffs.

He appealed to the RMRDC to help his livestock feed manufacturing firm with raw materials that could substitute for maize and soya. He said: “We work in the feed mill industry where we produce livestock feeds. But maize and soya are major challenges. We will like RMRDC to help us to have alternative protein production.”