Grace Ene
During the event, Wouter Ensing, VP and Business Development Manager at AMS-IX, stressed the significance of establishing a robust connectivity framework to unlock content growth, aggregate demand, and ensure widespread access for consumers. He acknowledged that although some content providers had already set up locally in West Africa, particularly in Nigeria, the lack of sufficient content within the region led to cost inefficiencies, unnecessary latency, and a negative impact on user experience.
To tackle this issue, AMS-IX teamed up with MDXi to capitalize on its extensive interconnected ecosystem across West Africa and improve the region’s connectivity landscape. AMS-IX Lagos was developed as a regional hub to attract content and enable easy access within the area. By creating a network that fosters interconnections among carriers, internet exchanges, and data centers, AMS-IX Lagos aims to drive growth and enhance connectivity in the region and maybe beyond.
The webinar also featured a panel session with industry experts like Kendall Ananyi, Founder of Tizeti Networks, and Ben Nicklin, Director of Network Strategy and Interconnection at Edgio. They shared their experiences, with Kendall highlighting how his company accessed more content through peering on AMS-IX Lagos compared to IP transit links.
This was achieved by reducing the cost of traffic required to access locally available content. Ben Nicklin from Edgio mentioned the improved performance they experienced through peering at the Internet Exchange and saw an opportunity to serve other West African countries via peering from Lagos, hoping AMS-IX Lagos would bridge this gap by connecting more networks across the region and the rest of the world.
The collaboration between MDXi and AMS-IX is shaping West Africa’s digital landscape proactively and rapidy also by addressing infrastructure challenges, fostering a thriving digital ecosystem, and empowering the region’s vibrant youth population for the future and for greater opportunities.
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