By Lia Kiessling
Senior Manager, Campaigns, Internet Society

It’s the first day of the African Peering and Interconnection Forum, or as most of the crew here call it, AfPIF.

AfPIF started six years ago and has since grown into one of the continent’s most beloved events, dedicated to bringing Africa online.

From a business point of view, it challenges the traditional Western competitive model. Instead, it shows that when companies work together, their bottom line benefits and customers get better service for less.

It’s called peering. When companies peer, they are working together for a stronger Internet.

Today AfPIF reminded people of peering’s success with the launch of a new Internet Society report focusing on local content.

The report shows new findings that demonstrate that although more people CAN log on, they’re choosing not to.

Why? We need local content in local languages.

You can download the report and listen to some of the challenges from a local app developer in Ghana on our website.

Indeed, without the first step of making the Internet available – we wouldn’t have these new insights.

If you want to follow along with AfPIF, there are still two days left and a high-quality Livestream channel!

You can also post questions and comments on social media. Tag em #AfPIF2016!

Are you in Africa and working to bring a people online? Tell us about it! 

This article was originally published on Internet Society’s Blog page.

By Dawit Bekele
Regional Bureau Director for Africa, Internet Society

For the last seven years, Africa’s technology players have gathered at the annual Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF).

It’s a rare forum that brings together the people who are at the starting point of connecting Africa.  Together they exploring ways to reduce Internet connectivity costs, and grow local and regional exchange of Internet traffic.

From businesses to service providers to policy makers, AfPIF is a diverse and dedicated community who believe that we are better together.

They WANT to enhance exchange of content at local level, and enjoy lower the cost of connectivity, lower latency, and more.

Looking Back

Over time, AfPIF has built its reputation as the premier forum for the Internet technical community, with international and local technology businesses exploring ways to connect Africa.

At the first meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in 2010, the discussions revolved around investment in more ICT infrastructure to cover more areas. Back then, Western and Eastern Africa coasts were laying fiber optics and costs of connectivity were still high. After the cables landed, the cost of connectivity was cut but, the prices still remained high compared to other regions.

Why?

One reason was most of the local traffic was in Europe or North America.

In 2010, only 10 countries had operational IXPs. People knew that if cost of connectivity was lower, then more people and businesses would get online.  This would create more local content that would encourage the development of IXPs.

AfPIF was the place to make it happen.

That first meeting was attended by over 80 participants from 20 countries.  By the time the sixth meeting happened in 2015, there were 232 participants from 57 countries. The number of remote participants grew year after year to reach 1,032 at AFPIF 2015.

It is also undeniable that in the last seven year’s customers across Africa are benefiting from a faster and more affordable Internet.

This has provided more growth and opened opportunities for businesses across the continent.

In fact, even companies like Google, Akamai, and Cloudflare, are showing increased interest in the Africa. They’re exploring partnerships with the same companies that come to AfPIF. Once there, people can fix meetings with other each other, depending on interest.

This is important since many peering agreements start with a handshake. Formal agreements follow later and in some cases, no formal agreements, but peering happens.

Peering is working together for a stronger Internet.

Watch it happen:

One of AfPIF goals is to give practical solutions to challenges by bringing people together.  For instance, an Engineer in Telecoms and Networks Mobility at Benin Telecoms SA participated in AfPIF 2014, and was able to link up with the Google team. After that, Google deployed the first cache in Benin at Benin Telecom.

The increased number of tech companies has resulted in market growth, job growth, greater competition among providers, direct access to national and international carriers, and bandwidth flexibility because of low latencies

The countries’ ability to attract global companies is a boost to the local IT sector as more data centers have come up, providing hosting services for applications, software and platforms, among other services.

Africa is at a tipping point. It now sits at the forefront of Internet expansion and the continent is positioned to help drive the future of the global Internet.  It has a chance to leapfrog technology and constraints, and to create an Internet that helps to solve local as well as global problems.

The Internet Society understands the enormous potential for the Internet in Africa, and for the Internet to define Africa’s future.

We need you to be a part of it.

If you’re not here this year, watch AfPIF on LiveStream and get in touch on Twitter.

Who would you like to get together with?

This article was originally published on Internet Society’s Blog page.

Sub-Saharan Africa has seen great improvements in connectivity infrastructure and affordability in recent years. In particular, in some countries up to 90% or more of citizens have access to mobile Internet signals. In spite of this, Internet adoption is stagnating in many countries. The report “Promoting Content in Africa” poses that in order to spur growth, a greater emphasis on the demand for Internet connectivity is required. The report focusses on a number of issues which need to be addresses in order to facilitation content creation and availability, thereby improving the value of Internet connectivity to potential users in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Crucially, a greater focus on local language content is required, as many potential users do not have sufficient skills in popular online languages such as English and French, but do in local languages. Currently, there are very few websites in local languages, which leads to a vicious circle with little content creations in terms of websites, which attracts few users, which in turn is little incentive for further website content creation. When direct communication such as through social media, such as Facebook and Whatsapp, is concerned, uptake and local language usage is much greater.

National governments can fulfil a key role in stimulating local language content on the web, by leading by example and ensuring that content on government websites is also available in the recognised official local languages.

Additionally, monetisation of content is currently a severely limiting factor. There are significant barriers on the payments side, which prevent users from purchasing content. However, there are even greater barriers on the payout side, which prevent content creators from effectively monetising their content. This last limitation also applies to monetisation of content through advertising. In addition to this, advertising is hindered by a very limited support of local languages, which means that local language pages cannot be monetised.

Find out more about what you can do to promote local content.

This article was originally published on Internet Society’s Blog page.

By Michael Kende
Chief Economist, Internet Society

While access to the Internet used to be the critical bottleneck in many emerging countries, the mobile Internet has changed all of that. Just as mobile telephony quickly leap-frogged fixed telephony in almost every country, the mobile Internet is now the main form of access for most users. Today, with some countries having 90% availability of mobile Internet, but with adoption far below that level, we see clearly that Internet access is a means to an end, and that end is Internet content. Our new report, “Promoting Content in Africa” shows that content is king for increasing demand for Internet adoption and usage. Content must not just be locally relevant, a point noted here but it must be locally available.

As we have shown in a recent study in Rwanda, most content relevant to local needs, including both international as well as locally developed content, is hosted abroad, in Europe or even the US. This increases costs and decreases use. First, ISPs bear a significant cost in bringing the content back into the country each time it is requested over expensive international links. Second, the time to load a page from overseas is longer and less predictable and, as most of us know, the slower a website the less likely we are to continue.

As a result, content infrastructure is needed to host and deliver the content locally. This includes data centres to hold the content and provide access to local connections; hosting providers or content delivery networks to host the content in the data centre; and an Internet exchange point to provide efficient connections to the ISPs and their end-user customers. Having content hosted in a local data centre and delivered through a local IXP increases the speed of downloads significantly, which is noticeable to users and in our experience may quickly double usage.

The Internet Society has long played a role in helping to promote the development of IXPs, which are a critical piece of infrastructure for content delivery. With this paper, we go further and discuss the steps that policymakers can take to remove roadblocks and promote a local content infrastructure, in order to increase local demand for Internet content and help to create a local market for content developers, another step in the path towards creating vibrant and sustainable Internet ecosystems in every country.  

This article was originally published on Internet Society’s Blog page.

By Onno Bos
Sales Director, AMS-IX

Since SEACOM landed its 15,000-km fibre-optic connection in Mombasa in 2009, international bandwidth in Africa has increased 20-fold. At the same time, terrestrial infrastructure on the continent has doubled. Together, it has brought dramatic improvements for the African Internet community[1].

But much remains to be done, particularly in the areas of national backbones and cross-border connectivity. And AMS-IX remains committed to contribute to the Internet ecosystem in Africa and across the planet. That’s why we’re once again proud to be a Gold Sponsor of AfPIF as it returns to East Africa, where it all began back in 2010. The forum has a close relationship to our industry and is a perfect place for us to connect with the right audience.

A spirit of cooperation

Today, much of the content accessed in Africa is still hosted outside the continent, slowing down traffic and growth. Investments in open Internet Exchanges and data centres will be required to boost performance for end-users and businesses. AfPIF is a critical meeting point and catalyst, where key players can build the partnerships that will allow Africa to realize its full Internet potential.

Collaboration, a hands-on attitude, and a bottom-up approach are at the heart of the Internet’s technical functioning. To achieve our full potential, we need to bring end-to-end connectivity to everyone. We’re pleased to be able to help developing exchanges in Africa, like the Internet Exchange of Nigeria (IXPN), through equipment donations in cooperation with RIPE, as well as training programs for engineers at our Amsterdam headquarters.

At AMS-IX, we always look forward to AfPIF with great anticipation. It’s our best opportunity to meet with and gain insight from the African peering community and share our own knowledge of building and running an effective IXP. As an active supporter of AfPIF from day one, we’ve been a proud sponsor every year since the first forum in Nairobi. We’re with you for the long run and look forward to seeing you all again in Dar es Salaam!

[1] Source: Internet development and Internet governance in Africa

[Addis Ababa, Ethiopia –3 August, 2016] – The Internet Society today announced that it has selected 23 fellows from 20 African countries to attend the 7th African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF), to be held from 30 August – 1 September, 2016 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

As a result of the record number of applications received (over 120 applications from 32 countries in Africa), the number of fellowships awarded has increased from 16 in 2015 to 23 this year.  The AfPIF fellows will have the opportunity to gain insights on how Africa can maximize opportunities for increased interconnection and peering between local, regional and international Internet Service Providers.

The event brings together governments, policy makers, technical experts and business leaders to discuss African Internet infrastructure challenges, including capacity, regional and national Internet Exchange Point (IXP) development, local content development and connectivity.

“The AfPIF Fellowship Programme is a significant part of our work.  It brings to AFPIF participants who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend the event. Their participation will allow them share experiences and exchange ideas that can help advance and influence policies on peering and cross-border Internet interconnection in Africa,” explains Dawit Bekele, Africa Regional Bureau Director for the Internet Society.

“I would like to thank our sponsors who have enabled us to increase the number of fellows attending AfPIF this year. I would also like to thank the Fellowship Committee members for their work in selecting these highly-qualified individuals to benefit from the program,” added Bekele.

The 2016 AfPIF Fellows are:

• Livingstone Kalu (Nigeria), eStream Networks
• Ghislain Nkeramugaba (Rwanda), RICTA/RINEX
• Ivy Hoetu (Ghana), National Communications Authority
• Philippe Junior SIBIRO (Central African Republic), SPJ Labs
• Jean-Baptiste Millogo (Burkina Faso), AIRTEL Burkina Faso
• Ousmane Moussa Tessa (Niger), Niger-REN
• Randrianarivony Nirinarisantatra (Madagascar), iRENALA
• Janvier Ngnoulaye (Cameroon), University of Yaounde/ISOC Cameroon
• Nico Tshintu Bakajika (Democratic Republic of Congo),ISPA-DRC/KINIX
• Asegid Legesse Teshome (Ethiopia), Ethio Telecom
• Hervé Typamm (Togo), WARCIP
• Brahim ousmane mustapha  (Chad), SYDONIA Chad
• Kpetermeni Siakor (Liberia), Liberia Internet Exchange Point Association
• Islam Abou El Ata (Morocco), CAS-IX
• Gabriel Kapumpe (Zambia), Zambia Telecommunications Company LTD
• Eusebio Miku Cornelius (Tanzania), Habari Node Ltd. and Arusha Internet eXchange Point
• Christian Muhirwa (Rwanda), Broadband Systems Corporation
• Mucowimana Nepomucene (Burundi), ARCT
• Ali Bakri Mustafa Elfaki (Sudan), National Information Cente
• Francisco Mabila (Mozambique), UEM/MOZIX
• Kiemde Wênden tôe fâa Franck (Burkina Faso), Burkina Faso Internet EXchange Point (BFIX)
• Assangbe Woto Gbetondji Vivien (Benin), Benin Telecoms Infrustructures SA
• Anibe Onuche (Nigeria), Internet Exchange Points of Nigeria (IXPN)

Contact:

Betel Hailu
hailu@isoc.org

In the past five years, AfPIF participants have identified local availability of Content Delivery Networks (CDN) as one of the ways to lower connectivity cost and increase the level of local content within the country.

Global CDNs have strict requirements before deploying in a country, which has led investors and techies to explore other ways to deliver content to their users. In many African countries, there are business opportunities in connecting low-income areas that provide the numbers but lower monthly premiums.

We look at one initiative of a Kenyan Over The Top operator (OTT) that has also built its own CDN to carry the traffic. Able Wireless is betting on reducing latency for the consumer since the content is readily available and for content developers who can take advantage of the cost benefit from Local Caches.

Able Wireless is tapping to an unfulfilled market by providing Over The Top Traffic on its own network for as little as $5 a month and is currently seeking participation from local ISPs  keen on  making internet access more affordable.

Kahenya Kamunyu, founder of Able Wireless discusses with AfPIF about the company and availing affordable connectivity

1.     Tell us about Able Wireless?

Able Wireless is a pure Over the Top Public Common Carrier and the first fully Kenyan owned Content Network Operator .The goal being to offer affordable content service riding on a contiguous WiFi network. The network consists of physical fiber and copper mesh network inter-linked between apartments in residential areas, eliminating a single point of failure and creating multiple alternative data transport routes.

The Platform is a carrier for low cost content distribution targeted at the low and middle income segments of the population who have a huge appetite for content but have been locked out of other digital platforms by prohibitive costs. We’re currently providing access to a large pool of content over an unlimited internet connection to over 3,000 homes at Ksh.500 ($5) per month. Connection to the service is either through Wi-Fi, FTTH and WiFi or a Blackbox Streaming device that Able wireless provides.

2.     What are some of the legal issues arising from content distribution?

Everyone from the ISPs to Pay TV service providers, consider Able Wireless a threat. As an OTT that runs our own CDN the model reduces actual data consumption by 85% from traffic exchange since traffic travels only once which enables us deliver a large pool of content at a fraction of the costs charged by other players.

By viewing the Able platform as competition, we are simply missing out on localizing substantial amounts of traffic.

There is lot of untapped opportunity in the connected consumer demanding media and broadband and this is the value brought on by a pure carrier.A lot of ISPs have invested in thousands of kilometers of unlit fiber and unconsumed bandwidth while thousands of consumers are ready to consume content on demand, but only if it is affordable.

3.     What of the legal and regulatory framework?

Although we are licensed by the Communications Authority of Kenya, as a carrier, the cost of licensing remains prohibitive for small operators. For example we have to pay 0.4% of our annual Gross turnover or Ksh. ~100,000 ($1,000) per license whichever is higher annually, which in some cases is the difference between survival and failure. There are also actual license fees and taxes, which can easily discourage investors.

To recoup our investment, we are banking on the quality of service, wide choice of content available to consumers at an affordable cost and extensive infrastructure that delivers 1Gbps.

4.     How can CDNs take advantage of Peering?

Instead of CDNs building their own closed networks which are expensive to setup and maintain, they need to cooperate in delivering content to end-users in a scalable manner. In this case, we need to look at the economics of exchanging and therefore monetize the high capacity fiber links from ISPs.

5.     On Financing?

I walked to 56 banks, including investment banks to raise capital and it only took a “proxy” loan to get us going. Nobody was interested in talking to us – You say startup and the best I got was a cup of coffee. The potential financiers made me structure and restructure proposals or send me to different branches, but nobody was interested in financing an ICT business.

By Dr. Boubakar Barry
CEO, WACREN

For decades, African countries have been spending billions of dollars in transit cost in order to communicate to each other. This has first applied to voice communication, then also to data communication, especially since the development of the Internet from the 1990s.

In the last 15 years, there have been several initiatives to change this state by establishing Internet Exchange Points (IXP’s), thus allowing local traffic to remain local.  The AXIS project that has been implemented by the Internet Society (ISOC) under the mandate of the African Union (AU) is one of these initiatives.

Today, more than half of African countries have an IXP, thus saving a lot of financial resources and improving the quality of communications by reducing latency drastically. Direct cross-border traffic exchange does also contribute to these savings and improved quality of service. There is however room for improvement, as many countries on the continent still don’t have IXPs, thus imposing local traffic to be exchanged through international gateways.

The academic community has been involved in many of these IXP initiatives. Moreover, due to the establishment of NRENs (National Research and Education Networks) in many African countries, research and education traffic is being exchanged directly between members of these NRENs.

It is a known fact that the education and research community generates a lot of traffic for teaching, learning and research purposes. It’s due to the size of this community and its special requirements in terms of bandwidth that NRENs have been established. Of course, do to the volume of traffic involved, it would be inefficient and costly to route this traffic through international gateways.

NRENs have therefore established closed private networks on which members peer and exchange traffic. They constitute platforms that allow and support collaboration and sharing of resources.

The West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN) will go even a step further by peering at regional level.

WACREN, established in 2010, has currently 11 members, namely: RerBenin (Benin), RIC (Cameroon), RITER (Côte d’Ivoire), GabonREN (Gabon), GARNET (Ghana), MaliREN (Mali), NigerREN (Niger), NgREN (Nigeria), snRER (Senegal), TchadREN (Chad) and TogoRER (Togo). RENATER, the French NREN and Eko-Konnect of Nigeria are WACREN Associate Members.

The NRENs listed above are in different stages of development, and it is expected that the AfricaConnect2 project funded by the European Commission will serve as catalyst for their further development.

The WACREN backbone for which an international tender has been opened in the framework of the AfricaConnect2 project will be constituted by a 10G+ backbone with 3 to 4 main hubs and access links at 1G+ for the NRENs. At least two links to Europe on the 10G+ backbone will connect WACREN to GEANT (the pan-European research and education network) and the global research and education network, through peering with Internet2 (USA), CLARA (Latin America) and APAN (Asia-Pacific).

WACREN and its sister organizations UbuntuNet Alliance and ASREN, the three regional RENs covering West and Central Africa, East and Southern Africa and Northern Africa respectively, being aware of the benefit of peering and keeping local traffic local, have the objective of peering among themselves on the continent by the end of 2017.

Given the volume of traffic in the education and research community, this move will have a significant impact on growth and efficiency of Internet traffic in Africa.