Digital Realty drives local traffic exchange with new IXPN integration

By Juliet Umeh

In a move aimed at solving persistent internet speed, cost, and reliability challenges in Nigeria, Digital Realty has activated a new internet exchange point of presence, PoP, for the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria at its newly commissioned data centre in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.

The development is expected to significantly improve how internet traffic is exchanged locally, reducing delays, lowering operational costs for service providers, and strengthening Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.

For years, industry stakeholders have identified poor interconnection and reliance on international routing as key bottlenecks slowing Nigeria’s internet ecosystem. By expanding IXPN’s footprint into Lekki, experts say the new PoP directly addresses these inefficiencies, enabling faster and more reliable digital services for businesses and consumers.

The Lekki activation builds on IXPN’s existing presence at Digital Realty’s Victoria Island campus and now extends its reach across 12 data centres nationwide. With this, IXPN is now present in all major data centres in Lagos, further cementing the city’s position as a critical hub for local and regional connectivity.

Strategically, the Lekki data centre also serves as a landing point for the 2Africa subsea cable, one of the world’s largest submarine cable projects, connecting over 46 locations across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. This positioning is expected to enhance Nigeria’s access to global networks while ensuring that more traffic is retained and exchanged locally.

With the addition of the Lekki facility to its Victoria Island campus, Digital Realty has become the first carrier-neutral data centre provider in Lagos to operate two campuses, a move that industry players say strengthens redundancy, resilience, and disaster recovery capabilities.

Explaining the impact, Managing Director of Digital Realty in Nigeria, Ike Nnamani, said the initiative is designed to tackle long-standing connectivity gaps.

“This activation at our Lekki campus represents a deepening of Digital Realty’s commitment to connecting the local and regional digital economy to global networks,” he said. “By integrating IXPN’s exchange point, we are delivering resilient peering that enables lower latency and can increase operational efficiency for our customers.”

For IXPN, the expansion is also a response to growing demand from its more than 130 members, including internet service providers, global content platforms, and cloud operators, who require faster and more efficient data exchange.

Chief Executive Officer of IXPN, Muhammed Rudman, noted that the new PoP will directly improve user experience and broaden access.

“Expanding IXPN to Digital Realty’s Lekki campus is a significant step in our journey to enhance connectivity across Nigeria,” he said. “Our members are expected to benefit from faster, low-latency pathways, allowing broader digital inclusion and fueling Nigeria’s digital economy.”

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