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Nigeria’s Internet Exchange Point has set a 2046 ambition to retain 90% of the country’s internet traffic locally, a move that could lower costs, improve speeds and strengthen African control of digital infrastructure.
A long-term digital sovereignty push
Muhammad Rudman, chief executive of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), announced the target at the organisation’s 20th anniversary gala, saying Nigeria aims to become a continental hub from which other African networks obtain content.
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The proposal centres on “domesticating” traffic: ensuring data created and consumed in Nigeria is exchanged through Nigerian infrastructure rather than being routed abroad before returning to local users. Rudman said IXPN is currently handling about 70% of local internet traffic, much of it video.
For users, local exchange can mean lower latency, faster delivery of online services and reduced dependence on costly international transit. Nigeria’s communications regulator says its support for IXPN points of presence is intended to localise traffic, improve application performance and encourage local content adoption.
Building beyond Lagos
IXPN says its capacity reached 2.9 terabits per second this year, up from 2Tbps in 2025, and it is targeting 3Tbps by the end of 2026. Rudman said the exchange now connects more than 130 customers through over 200 ports across roughly 30 data-centre locations.
The next phase depends on more than network equipment. IXPN wants businesses to host websites and services inside Nigeria, while data-centre operators build capacity beyond the main commercial centres. It is also seeking sector-wide support to connect 100 universities and other tertiary institutions by 2030.
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Rudman cited Zaria, where several higher-education institutions could share teaching materials and digital resources locally if they were better interconnected. That would reduce the need for locally relevant academic traffic to travel via foreign networks.
African content, African routes
Nigeria’s vast creative industries are central to the strategy. Rudman pointed to Nigerian film and music in Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo as examples of content that could draw traffic from across the continent if it is hosted and exchanged in Nigeria.
IXPN is already interconnected with networks in Ghana and wants more African operators and global cloud providers to peer directly with its platform. A proposed connection to South Africa has been slowed by the high cost of transmission capacity between Lagos and South Africa, according to Rudman.
The plan matters for Black communities because the location of internet infrastructure shapes who captures value from African creativity, commerce, education and public data. Keeping more traffic within Nigeria and Africa could give local firms and institutions greater control over the digital systems that carry the continent’s stories and services.
Delivery will require cooperation
The 2046 target is an ambition, not a government mandate or guaranteed outcome. It will require investment from telecoms companies, internet providers, cloud firms, universities, content producers and public agencies.
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Rudman said participation should be driven by the commercial and operational benefits of interconnection, rather than compulsion. The test will be whether Nigeria can expand reliable fibre, data centres and locally hosted services at the pace required to turn a 70% domestic-traffic base into a regional digital gateway.