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The Internet Society (ISOC), an international non-profit organisation dedicated to the open development, evolution and use of the internet, has announced today that it is developing Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) throughout Africa to expand internet connectivity.

The ISOC, in collaboration with Facebook, will increase the number of IXPs and support the expansion of existing IXPs to meet growing demand in Africa. The IXP infrastructure development will be accompanied by training and community engagement.

An Internet Exchange Point is where multiple local and international networks, internet service providers (ISPs) and content providers interconnect their networks to efficiently exchange internet traffic through peering. Peering helps to keep domestic internet traffic local and it enables ISPs to offer improved internet experience to end-users.

According to a statement by the ISOC, 42 percent of African countries lack IXPs, which means most of the domestic internet traffic are exchanged through points outside their respective countries. This often results in poor end-user experiences and discourages the hosting of content locally.

“The Internet community adopted the goal of having at least 80 percent of the Internet traffic consumed in Africa being locally accessible, and only 20 percent sourced outside the continent by the year 2020,” said Dawit Bekele, Africa Regional Bureau Director for the ISOC. “We are getting closer to that target thanks to the many activities that promote interconnection and hosting in Africa.”

“We admire the Internet Society’s important work to improve connectivity in Africa by supporting IXPs,” said Kojo Boakye, Head of Connectivity and Access for Facebook in Africa. “Our partnership with the Internet Society will help develop Africa’s IXP ecosystem by deploying resources like training and equipment to the areas where they are most urgently needed.”

According to the Africa IXP Association, there are approximately 44 active IXPs located across 32 countries in Africa. And over the last 10 years, there has been a 275 percent growth in locally-exchanged internet traffic. During the same period, traffic exchanged at the African IXPs increased from 0.16 Gbps to 412 Gbps.

Meanwhile, the worldwide broadband speed league table recently released by the British company, Cable.co.uk, shows that most of the countries with slow internet speed are found in Africa. Of the 200 countries surveyed, 37 African countries ranked below 100 with mean download speed ranging from 3.24 Mbps to 0.65 Mbps. This is far below the 10 Mbps required for a digital society.

Founded by internet pioneers, Vint Cerf and Bob Khan, in 1992, the ISOC collaborates with a broad range of groups to promote the technologies that keep the internet safe and secure. It also advocates policies that enable universal access to the internet.