Asteroid and NAPAfrica have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop African Internet interconnection
The cooperation is set to promote peering and local interconnection, with a focus on Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) as an essential part of the Internet ecosystem.
Nurani Nimpuno, chief commercial officer at Asteroid, said, “We believe that Africa holds great potential for Internet growth, but there are still real challenges to solve in terms of in-country interconnection. IXPs can play a key role in boosting that, and at Asteroid we want to work play a positive role in that development.”
The two companies have also committed to share knowledge and experience with others in the region about the advantages of IXPs and peering.
Community building and sharing of best practices has proven to be fundamental in improving local peering and creating successful IXPs.
IXPs are uniquely able to support the development of a region’s communication infrastructure, including national and international fibre cables, and local data centre development.
The presence of an IXP in a country can also be instrumental in the development of local Internet ecosystem. It can improve Internet users’ access speeds and significantly reduce latency, encouraging the development of local content and local services.
