The African Internet Exchange System Project aims to keep Africa’s internet traffic local by providing capacity building, policy and regulatory support and technical assistance to facilitate the establishment of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), Regional Internet Exchange Points (RIXPs) and Regional Internet Carriers (RICs) in Africa.

The steering committee will conclude a major exercise to review and adopt the progress report of Axis Project and will pay a courtesy visit to the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) after its elevation to the status of a Regional Internet Exchange Point for West Africa.

The AXIS Project was implemented by the African Union Commission Development Agency and is funded by the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund and the Government of Luxembourg.

The AXIS’s Steering Committee consists of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Regulatory Associations with the African Union Commission serving as the Chair. It approves and make decisions on recommendations presented by the project implementation team. It also provides strategic and technical advice to the implementation of the project, offering policy guidance and monitoring the orientation of the project activities in the pursuit of its overall objective.

The Program on Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) has highlighted the importance of establishment of IXPs in its priority action plan.

ECOWAS has five IXPs established in Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The Gambian IXP was established in the framework of the AXIS Project. Also, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) will be supported by AXIS Project to grow into Regional IXP for the ECOWAS space.

The main benefits of the IXPs include low cost, reduced latency and quality of access due to avoiding the data routing through upstream Internet Providers.