Telecom
IXPN Underscores Benefits of Collaboration, Peering and Local Hosting of Content
Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), a non-for-profit and membership-based organisation, which provides a platform where networks interconnect directly within Nigeria has highlighted the benefits that come with collaboration among operators, peering in carrier and cloud-neutral data centres and the hosting of content locally in Nigeria, where it is believed does more downloads of content than uploads.
L-R: Muhammed Rudman, MD/CEO, IXPN; Benjamin Deveaux, Head of Business Development, Workonline Communications Group; Wole Abu, CEO, Liquid Intelligent Technologies Nigeria, and Dr. Krish Ranganath, Regional Executive, Africa Data Centres at an exclusive peering workshop which held recently in Lagos, Nigeria.
Mr. Muhammed Rudman, Chief Executive Officer of IXPN, highlighted these benefits to stakeholders at an exclusive peering workshop, which was organized by IXPN and Africa Data Centres (ADC) in collaboration with Workonline Communications.
According to Muhammed, there is a lack of collaboration between the various operators in the ecosystem, which has led to duplication of infrastructure and ultimately, high cost of services for the end-users.
“There is a lot of fragmentation in the industry. Despite the Nigerian Communications Commission’s framework for infrastructure sharing, industry players do not collaborate that is why we have duplication of infrastructure which are supposed to be shared,” he told Journalists on the sideline of the forum.
He noted that if industry players collaborate, it will bring down operational costs and capital expenditure.
Speaking on what peering in a carrier and cloud-neutral data centres will bring to the industry and the Nigerian economy in general, Mr. Muhammed who is the immediate past President of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), said peering between Internet Exchange Point and a carrier/cloud-neutral data centres will enhance connections for citizens and organisations alike, and help the economy to thrive.
“Peering through internet exchanges addresses the challenges of traffic by ensuring the shortest possible route is used to reach a given destination. It keeps traffic as local as possible, which improves performance and enables faster connections between networks, facilitating high-speed data transfer, lower latency, increased bandwidth and improved fault tolerance,” he said.
According to him, local hosting of content is a driver for economic growth, stressing that money paid to foreign hosting companies constitutes capital flight, puts more strain on Nigeria’s foreign earnings and slows the growth of local data centers and delays the development of new ones.
He also explained that hosting locally provides additional revenue opportunities to local ISPs and data centers which in turn creates more job and technical competencies. “Local content hosted abroad has higher latency than if hosted locally – over 1000%. But hosting it locally in any of the data centres has a direct and indirect impact on the economy – Job Creation, Tax, a platform for other IT professionals,” he argued.
The implications for businesses who hosted their content abroad are numerous; it affects business continuity, it comes with lower support level and poor update cycles because of conflicting working hours/ this is even as a study shows that a second-long delay causes a 7% drop in conversions, an 11% drop in page views and a 16% drop in customer satisfaction.
Meanwhile, as a way of addressing some of the challenges in the ecosystem, IXPN had organized a free Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) training for network engineers across Nigeria as part of her planned capacity building programme for its increasing members and commitment towards improving the internet ecosystem in the country.
The training was held at the organisation’s corporate headquarter in Lagos, where Muhammed Rudamn explained that Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a gateway protocol that enables the internet to exchange routing information between autonomous systems (AS).
“We want to empower empower members of the Internet eXchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) with the rudiments and workings of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), which is important to us as a one-stop peering point for service and content providers,” he emphasized.
Spacecoin, US-based, has announced the signing of recent agreements with local authorities and operators to launch satellite connectivity pilot projects in Africa.
The initiatives, focused on Kenya and Nigeria, aim to serve areas where terrestrial networks remain limited or unavailable.
n Kenya, Spacecoin has obtained a transmission license from the Communications Authority, allowing it to test satellite-based solutions for connectivity and Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas with limited internet access.
According to the Kenyan regulator, internet penetration remains below 50% of the population, despite mobile penetration exceeding 130%.
In parallel, the company is continuing operations in Nigeria under an existing license issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
This authorization supports initiatives aimed at delivering affordable broadband connectivity to isolated and underserved communities.
Spacecoin’s approach is based on a decentralized satellite network using nanosatellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Combined with blockchain-based protocols, this architecture is intended to offer more flexible and cost-effective connectivity services than traditional networks, while also enabling the integration of IoT solutions for a range of uses, from smart agriculture to infrastructure monitoring.
These projects are part of a broader strategy to help narrow Africa’s digital divide, where a significant share of the population still lacks access to reliable internet services.
Satellite technology is increasingly viewed as a complement to terrestrial infrastructure, particularly in hard-to-reach areas where deployment costs and geographic constraints remain high.
Beyond Africa, Spacecoin is also running pilot projects in Asia, working with local partners to test the viability of its model across different regulatory and geographic environments.
According to the company’s management, growing interest from regulators reflects a shift toward solutions capable of reaching populations that have long been excluded from internet access.
AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, driving digital transformation and sustainability, today announces the appointment of Khaled Salah, 37 years old, as Vice President of Africa.
Khaled Salah
In this new role, he will be responsible for about 30 employees to ensure the successful implementation of AVEVA’s growth strategy. Khaled Salah will report directly to Jesus Hernandez, SVP of the EMEA region.
A 15-years + career across different industries and domains
With a MBA in management from the Warwick business school, UK, and a master’s degree in engineering from Ain Shams university in Egypt, Khaled Salah is an active advocate for driving sustainable progress in the industrial sector. With Sustainability in mind, Khaled is keen on making a positive business impact, while fostering progress for people and the planet.
He started his career at Schneider Electric, in 2013 in the global supply chain and evolved through various roles such as Europe procurement and supply chain strategy Manager, and Global Commercial strategy Director for the industrial automation business. Khaled Salah has developed a strategic understanding of all those fields.
After 12 years in Schneider Electric, Khaled joined AVEVA in 2022 to lead AVEVA and Schneider Electric global strategic partnership, across all industries managing a team of 30 people.
He has led the introduction of new AVEVA software solutions to initiate and develop significant growth areas across all Schneider Electric verticals.
Ambitious plans for AVEVA in Africa
In addition to his current role as AVEVA and Schneider Electric partnership Vice-President, Khaled now takes over the management of AVEVA’s activities in Africa.
Jesus Hernandez, SVP of the EMEA region says: “Africa is a strategic region for AVEVA. In this major industrial market, customers, world leaders in the fields of Energy, Metal & Mining, Chemicals, and Water, are looking for AVEVA’s expertise to accelerate and drive their digital transformation and sustainability strategies, as well as their energy transition projects.
“Khaled Salah’s qualities of leadership in a global environment will benefit his team spread across 12 countries including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.”
Motivated by the prospect of capitalizing on the talent of his team to strengthen AVEVA’s presence in Africa in the years to come, Khaled Salah says: “Helping my team realize their professional potential is close to my heart.
“We will work together to support and accelerate the digital transformation of industries in Africa, in particular through CONNECT, our industrial intelligence platform, with the support of our ecosystem of partners. »
A Google-Ipsos report reveals Nigerians topping global AI usage at 88%, surpassing the 62% worldwide average, with sharp rises in education and business applications.
“Our Life with AI: Helpfulness in the hands of more people” shows 93% of Nigerians using AI for learning complex topics versus 74% globally, 91% for work assistance, and 80% for new ventures—nearly double the 42% global rate.
Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s West Africa Communications Manager, stated: “Nigerians are creatively using AI to unlock opportunities for learning, growth, and economic empowerment, shaping their future with technology.”
Key findings highlight 91% viewing AI positively for learning access, 95% expecting benefits for students and educators, and strong optimism—80% excited versus 20% concerned, compared to global 53%-46% split. Frequent users show 90% excitement
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