Africa’s tech boom starts at home, By Sally Wentworth

Africa's digital transformation is accelerating, driven by significant growth in internet penetration and the development of crucial infrastructure that keeps local traffic within the continent.

Twenty-one years ago, an email sent between Lagos and Abuja would travel thousands of kilometers to Europe or North America before returning to Nigeria. This inefficient route, known as a "detour around the world," incurred high transit costs for businesses and resulted in slow, unreliable internet connections for users. The establishment of the African Peering and Interconnection Forum in 2010 aimed to directly address this fundamental connectivity problem.

Through the collaborative efforts of network operators, technical experts, and policymakers, substantial progress has been made. A significant portion of African internet traffic now remains within Africa, thanks to the creation of essential infrastructure. This development has been fueled by strong commitment and energy, particularly from Nigeria.

Currently, there are over 70 Internet exchange points across Africa. Internet penetration has dramatically increased, growing from less than 10 percent in 2010 to over 38 percent today. The continent also boasts world-class technical leadership within a vibrant ecosystem rooted in civil society.

The upcoming African Peering and Interconnection Forum in Kigali is poised to build on this momentum. It will convene key players in the digital ecosystem, including data center operators, fiber providers, and hardware builders. The goal is to fortify connections and nurture this community, both nationally and across borders, laying the groundwork for Africa's future economic prosperity in the global digital economy.

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we must continue to build a strong, united African technical community. This is why the Forum in Kigali matters: It brings together everyone who powers our digital ecosystem – from data centre operators and fibre providers to hardware builders. We need to fortify these connections and develop this precious community, both within African countries and across borders.