By Juliet Umeh

As Nigeria accelerates its digital transformation ambitions, one of the major obstacles that continue to undermine the aspirations of becoming Africa’s digital powerhouse is the country’s heavy dependence on foreign internet infrastructure.

Despite boasting one of Africa’s largest economies, Nigeria still hosts only 22 percent of its top 1,000 most-accessed websites locally, significantly below Africa’s average of 34 percent. Even more concerning is that about 80 percent of websites using Nigeria’s .ng domain are hosted outside the country.

Industry stakeholders say this reality not only increases internet costs and latency but also raises concerns about data sovereignty, cybersecurity, and national digital resilience.

Seeking solutions to these challenges, the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, IXPN, and telecommunications infrastructure and interconnect services company, TeleAfrica Communications recently convened a two-day Border Gateway Protocol, BGP, Peering Workshop in Abuja, bringing together network engineers, telecom operators, internet service providers, regulators and infrastructure experts.

The workshop served as both a technical training platform and a strategic intervention aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s internet infrastructure and reducing dependence on foreign networks.

Hosting deficit problem

For years, internet traffic generated within Nigeria has largely travelled through foreign servers before returning to local users, even when both the sender and recipient are within the country.

Experts say this routing inefficiency contributes to slower internet speeds, higher operational costs for businesses, and increased vulnerability to external disruptions.

The situation is further complicated by limited network infrastructure across the country. Current data indicate that 15 Nigerian states lack a single independent network, while the nation’s Autonomous System Number, ASN, density remains among the lowest globally.

An ASN is a unique identifier that enables networks to exchange internet traffic independently and efficiently.

Speaking at the workshop, Managing Director of IXPN, Mr. Muhammed Rudman, described the situation as a major barrier to Nigeria’s digital ambitions.

According to him, Nigeria currently has only one ASN per million people, compared with 13 in South Africa and 43 in Brazil.

He noted that increasing local interconnection and expanding ASN participation are critical steps toward building a more resilient internet ecosystem.

“By keeping local traffic local, IXPN is building the foundation for a faster, more connected and sovereign Nigeria,” Rudman said.

According to him, stronger local internet exchanges can significantly reduce latency, lower bandwidth costs and support innovation across sectors such as fintech, education technology and digital commerce.

Building the infrastructure for digital sovereignty

Beyond highlighting the problems, stakeholders used the workshop to present practical solutions.
Rudman outlined IXPN’s plans to expand connectivity to underserved regions, deploy advanced infrastructure capable of supporting multi-terabit traffic through 400G ports, and attract global and regional content providers to host more content within Nigeria.

Industry analysts say such investments could help reverse the country’s hosting deficit while creating a stronger foundation for cloud services, artificial intelligence applications, digital banking and e-government services.

Complementing these efforts, TeleAfrica Communications showcased how interconnection infrastructure can address longstanding bottlenecks in Nigeria’s telecommunications ecosystem.

Chairman of TeleAfrica Communications, Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani, explained that the company’s Abuja-based ABV1 Datacenter plays a strategic role in connecting telecom traffic between northern and southern Nigeria.

According to him, efficient switching centres and carrier-grade interconnection infrastructure are essential for ensuring that digital services reach all parts of the country.

Nnamani also identified another persistent challenge affecting operators: interconnect debt.

He explained that while many interconnect providers focus solely on transmitting traffic, TeleAfrica’s model incorporates financial settlement and reconciliation mechanisms.

“TeleAfrica’s model offers full financial settlement and reconciliation of interconnect traffic. This will greatly eliminate interconnect indebtedness in the industry and lead to accurate and timely processing of interconnect charges through a robust and transparent billing infrastructure,” Nnamani said.

Industry observers believe that resolving interconnect payment disputes could improve service quality and strengthen collaboration among operators.

Closing the skills gap

Beyond infrastructure, experts at the event stressed the need to develop local technical expertise capable of managing increasingly complex internet networks.

The second day of the workshop focused on hands-on training in BGP, the protocol responsible for directing internet traffic across the world.

Participants received advanced instruction on Autonomous System Numbers, traffic engineering, routing policies and network optimisation.

Technical facilitator, Mahdi Tajuddeen, led practical sessions designed to equip engineers with skills required to build more efficient and resilient networks.

For many participants, the technical sessions provided immediate value.

An IT specialist and network Engr with IMBIL Telecom Solutions, Mr. Chukwudi Philip, described the training as both timely and relevant.

“The technical depth of the BGP session reinforced the critical role routing policies play in ensuring efficient internet connectivity, scalability and network stability. I am grateful to IXPN for creating a platform that bridges strategic industry discussions with hands-on technical knowledge,” he said.

As Nigeria seeks to grow its digital economy into a major contributor to national GDP, experts argue that solving infrastructure and hosting challenges has become increasingly urgent.