The London Internet Exchange (LINX) announced this week it will be expanding its interconnection footprint in Africa early next year with a new internet exchange point (IXP) in Ghana and its second IXP in Kenya.
In Ghana, the LINX Accra IXP (announced on Wednesday) will be launched in phases, starting with data centres from Onix and PAIX. LINX said this setup will provide redundancy and interconnectivity by allowing networks at either location to meet at LINX Accra via a single cross-connect.
In Kenya, LINX Mombasa (announced on Monday) will be launched in partnership with local data centre operator iColo, which is owned by Digital Realty. LINX Mombasa will be the first IXP to be hosted at iColo’s MBA2 facility.
LINX said the Mombasa IXP is designed to mirror the technical set up of its existing IXP in Nairobi, which went live in November 2023, using Nokia technology to enable peering and other services on 100G ports.
Both IXPs are scheduled to go live in early Q1 of 2025.
LINX’s head of global engagement Nurani Nimpuno said the two new IXPs will take advantage of Ghana’s and Kenya’s international connectivity on Africa’s west coast and east coast, respectively. Both countries provides landing points for six subsea cable systems.
“The launch of the Mombasa IXP is a significant complement to the existing LINX IXP in Nairobi a step that will bolster interconnection across East Africa,” she said. Meanwhile, she added, “LINX Accra will not only support the growth of the strong local ISP community, but with several key Internet submarine cables landing in Accra, it is uniquely positioned to become a central gateway for Internet traffic in West Africa.”