NAPAfrica, Africa’s leading Internet Exchange Point (IXP), has reached a significant milestone by surpassing five terabits per second (Tbps) of traffic. This achievement cements its position as the fastest-growing IXP on the continent and one of the top ten globally by total traffic volume.
With over 655 networks peering at its exchange points, NAPAfrica continues to play a crucial role in keeping African internet traffic local, reducing costs, and enhancing network performance. The exchange has witnessed remarkable growth over the years, with traffic peaking at 100 Gbps in 2016, reaching 500 Gbps in 2018, surging to 2 Tbps in 2021, and surpassing 4 Tbps in 2023 before hitting the latest 5Tbps milestone in February 2025.
The success of NAPAfrica can be attributed to several key factors. Strategically located in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, it serves as a critical interconnection point for regional and international networks.
Hosted within Teraco data centres—Africa’s largest carrier- and vendor-neutral data centre operator, NAPAfrica facilitates direct connections with major ISPs, cloud providers, and enterprises, offering a seamless and cost-effective peering experience.
The presence of global technology giants such as Akamai, Amazon, Cloudflare, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Netflix further strengthens NAPAfrica’s role in Africa’s digital landscape. Teraco and NAPAfrica have also invested in additional cache servers to improve regional connectivity, including hosting Netflix Open Connect in Cape Town and Durban, ensuring faster load times and an enhanced user experience.
Unlike many global IXPs that charge for port access, NAPAfrica offers free peering, enabling ISPs, content providers, and enterprises to reduce transit costs while improving network efficiency. Over the past year, the exchange has expanded its peering community by adding more than 40 new peers, including major players like Mimecast, Fortinet, and Tencent.
In response to growing bandwidth demands, NAPAfrica has introduced Africa’s first 400 Gbps interconnection options, allowing content and cloud providers to scale operations efficiently. Additionally, the exchange has contributed to the growth of local and regional networks by keeping African internet traffic within the continent, reducing latency, and improving service quality.
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South Africa’s strategic position as a landing point for major subsea cables—such as 2Africa, ACE, EASSy, Equiano, METISS, SAT3/SAFE, Seacom, and WACS—has further bolstered NAPAfrica’s ability to connect networks across Africa to global content efficiently.
The increasing demand for mobile internet and fiber broadband services has also driven ISPs and mobile operators to leverage NAPAfrica’s infrastructure to support video streaming, gaming, and cloud-based applications.
To enhance network visibility and optimize performance, NAPAfrica has adopted the Kentik Network Observability platform, providing peering members with critical insights into traffic flows, anomaly detection, and performance improvements.
As Africa’s digital landscape evolves, NAPAfrica remains at the forefront of connectivity, driving digital transformation across the continent. With ongoing expansion and technological advancements, the exchange is poised to play an even greater role in shaping the future of Africa’s internet economy.
