Recently, Niger’s Constitutive General Assembly for the Niger Internet Exchange Point (IXP) met in Niamey on 23 January 2015. The Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Digital Economy, H.E. MrAbdou Mani, launched the event with a number of activities, including:
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Adoption of guidelines for the IXP
- Establishment of a board of Directors comprised of Internet service providers, government institutions, and Niger’s Research and Education Network (Niger REN), focused on ensuring effective implementation and launch of the Niger IXP.
From the very start of this collaborative IXP project, the Internet Society’s Niger Chapter has been actively involved through both the Chapter and individual members.
Through the African Union’s African Internet Exchange System (AXIS) project, implemented by the Internet Society a collective effort has been made to support the establishment of the Internet Exchange Point. AXIS organized an IXP best practices workshop in Niger from 6-8 November 2012, training twenty-three (23) local experts. And, provided a follow-on technical training workshop that trained eighteen (18) engineers from 15-19 March 2013. The Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Digital Economy hosted both of the AXIS workshops, which were conducted by the Internet Society.
The Internet Society’s Africa Interconnection and Traffic Exchange programme has been actively supporting the development of IXPs to boost local and regional interconnection and traffic exchange. The programme aims to have 80% of Internet traffic exchanged in Africa by 2020, to keep local traffic local, and to build local technical expertise. This objective was successfully amplified by the appointment of the Internet Society to implement the African Union’s AXIS programme.
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African Internet Exchange System (AXIS)