DE-CIX said it is working on this project alongside the NGO ‘Internet pour tous’ (Internet For All) and UNITED S.A., an Internet connectivity and web hosting provider based in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo – DRC).

With this move, ACIX becomes the first distributed IX in the DRC. The placement in the neutral and state-of-the-art colocation data center marks an important step in strengthening the digital infrastructure ecosystem of the DRC by enabling improved local Internet traffic exchange, reduced latency, enhanced network resilience, and broader interconnection opportunities for the national and regional Internet community.

Established in 2023, ACIX powered by DE-CIX is designed as a neutral Internet Exchange environment open to all licensed operators, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), cloud providers, content providers, enterprises, financial institutions, academic networks, and international carriers operating in the DRC and the wider region.

ACIX is operated by DE-CIX on behalf of ‘Internet pour tous’, as part of the DE-CIX-as-a-Service (DaaS) program.

The NGO plays a central role in supporting the development and coordination of the ACIX initiative as a neutral ecosystem platform intended to promote inclusive interconnection and digital ecosystem growth across the country.

Through the IX, networks from equatorial Africa are able to exchange data with other networks at reduced latency (reaction time), improving the performance of content and applications, from education to Internet banking.

Digital opportunities for equatorial Africa

“ACIX is more than an Internet Exchange; it is foundational digital infrastructure for the future of Central Africa,” says Hussein Ibrahim, CEO of UNITED SA. “Strong digital ecosystems are built on strong interconnection. ACIX represents an important step toward a more connected and digitally empowered region, where data can remain local, networks become more resilient, and innovation can scale across borders.”

“As a neutral infrastructure provider, our role is to enable open interconnection and support the development of the broader digital ecosystem,” said Mohammed Bouhelal, managing director and director, Business Development of OADC Texaf DC. “Hosting ACIX within a carrier-neutral environment contributes to creating a trusted platform where all ecosystem participants can interconnect on equal terms.”

“DE-CIX is proud to support ‘Internet pour tous’ and UNITED S.A. in the expansion of ACIX and the development of a distributed, data center and carrier neutral Internet Exchange for the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” says Marco Brandstaetter, Global Program Manager for DE-CIX as a Service at DE-CIX. “The integration of OADC Texaf’s newly-built Kinshasa facility will enable additional networks to connect to the exchange and benefit from improved connectivity. ACIX is creating digital opportunities for the DRC and equatorial Africa by aggregating networks and enabling low latency and resilient local data exchange.”

ACIX powered by DE-CIX bridges countries to bring African networks closer together

Open Access Data Centres (OADC) is Africa’s fastest-growing data center company and operates a growing network of carrier-neutral data centers across the country, designed to support the development of open, interconnected digital ecosystems.

OADC Texaf provides a carrier-neutral and open-access hosting environment for the ACIX infrastructure within its Kinshasa data center campus.

Kinshasa, one of the most populous cities in Africa, is strategically located between the two most densely populated regions of the African continent.

Forming an interconnection bridge between the neighboring countries from the Atlantic on the west to the Indian Ocean on the east, ACIX acts as a connectivity hub for equatorial Africa, where networks can exchange data and house content with significantly improved performance.

DE-CIX’s DaaS program includes a set of services – such as installation, maintenance, provisioning, marketing and sales support – designed for data center operators or other third parties to create their own Internet Exchange and interconnection platform fully operated by DE-CIX.

Twelve networks are already connected or in the process of connecting to the new data center and carrier neutral IX.

The interconnection platform is hosted in the IRAQ-IXP data center in Baghdad and operated by DE-CIX under the DE-CIX as a Service (DaaS) model.

The IX will in future also be directly connected to the world’s largest interconnection ecosystem through DE-CIX Istanbul and DE-CIX Frankfurt, the largest IX in Europe.

This allows customers to access thousands of networks globally. IRAQ-IXP powered by DE-CIX is built on DE-CIX’s award-winning interconnection infrastructure, offering peering, cloud connectivity, and enterprise-grade interconnection services.

The interconnection platform is set to serve as a hub for regional connectivity, enabling local networks to benefit from low-latency interconnection and the localization of global content, while increasing network stability, scalability, and security.

“The millions of users in Iraq deserve digital services of state-of-the-art quality. This requires the best local infrastructure possible, which DE-CIX is delighted to contribute to. With a strong and diverse landscape of Internet service and network providers, Iraq is in need of local interconnection to create local data and content gravity, and its Internet connectivity will be strongly enhanced through the new IX. IRAQ-IXP powered by DE-CIX is the ideal place for international networks interested in reaching this important Middle Eastern market,” comments Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX. “The new IX, established through the partnership between DE-CIX and IRAQ-IXP, will unleash the potential of the country’s emerging digital economy by providing better performance and user experience of content and applications, and affordable and high-quality Internet access for enterprises and individuals.”

“We have a strong vision to provide improved connection services to our customers, taking care of data flow in terms of speed and comprehensive security,” comments Ahmed Rakwi, CEO of IRAQ-IXP, on the new Internet Exchange. “IRAQ-IXP powered by DE-CIX is set to serve local, regional, and international ISPs, CDNs, content and cloud, as well as enterprise networks, covering the interconnection demand of our customers. This partnership will improve the resilience of local and regional connectivity, lower the latency of data traffic, and improve the performance of cloud-based resources and applications.”

DE-CIX, home to the largest neutral interconnection ecosystem in the world, has been active in the Middle East for more than a decade, and now operates IXs in several countries in the region: the UAE, Jordan, and Iraq, as well as Turkey.

IRAQ-IXP powered by DE-CIX joins such success stories as the UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX in Dubai, also operated under the DaaS model.

The DaaS program includes a set of services – such as installation, maintenance, provisioning, marketing and sales support – designed for data center operators or other third parties to create their own Internet Exchange and interconnection platform fully operated by DE-CIX.

The platform hosted in Rack Centre – as part of innovations to support the growth of the Internet in Africa through effective and functional traffic localization, enterprise digitization acceleration, and community support, among other reasons – is specifically designed to complement the existing network infrastructure providers’ by providing a redundant path for local traffic exchange and a robust Interconnect Exchange through its partnership with DE-CIX, the leading operator of Internet Exchanges in the world.

According to Obinna Adumike, the Head of Peering and Exchange Platforms for AF-CIX, creating the platform became necessary to improve network performance by keeping traffic local, thereby reducing the number of networks hops that Internet traffic needs to take. He explained that AF-CIX connects networks by eliminating the need to route traffic through international circuits, thereby making the Internet faster and more responsive for users and resulting in lower latency and higher performance.

The millions of users in Nigeria deserve digital services of state-of-the-art quality. This requires the best local infrastructure possible. DE-CIX is delighted to contribute to this to serve the broader need for interconnection, with modern interconnection services designed for businesses such as cloud connectivity,” explains Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX. “This will unleash the potential of the Nigerian digital economy by providing better performance and user experience of content and applications, and affordable and high-quality Internet access for enterprises and individuals.”

The integration of AF-CIX into the DE-CIX interconnection ecosystem will further help Nigerian businesses have direct access to the portfolio of DE-CIX services and connected networks, thereby offering them access to thousands of networks in over 100 countries. With the platform, participants or businesses would enjoy access to the largest aggregation of Cloud, content, and CDN providers worldwide with direct integration to close to 20 Interconnection platforms across the globe.

Commenting on the benefits of connecting to the platform, Adumike noted that;

Any business linked to it would undoubtedly witness improved network performance, increased connectivity, lower costs, and better security, with exceptional interconnection services, and an updated and advanced approach to traffic engineering and management.

“Connection to AF-CIX means a lot to every participant given that benefits such as cross-connection, peering, and port access to the platform are obtained freely at Rack Centre. Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks are mitigated through the platforms integrated, advanced Blackholing service. The platform is also developed for localization of the Internet, enhancing services like Root DNS servers and NTP Stratum servers,” he added.