Inside Digital Realty's Network Expansion in Nigeria

Digital Realty is activating a new internet exchange point of presence for the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) at its Ibeju-Lekki data centre in Lagos, extending peering capacity and access for telco services.

The move adds to IXPN’s existing presence at the company’s Victoria Island campus and places the exchange across 12 data centres nationwide, with full coverage of major facilities in Lagos.

Internet exchange points can significantly improve performance by cutting latency while also reducing the cost of routing data through international links, instead localising data exchange.

By activating a PoP in Lekki, Digital Realty is widening the number of interconnection options available to telecoms seeking local traffic exchange.

Extending peering across Lagos

The activation in Lekki builds a dual-campus model for Digital Realty in Lagos.

Digital Realty operates carrier-neutral data centres, where multiple telco networks and service providers can colocate and interconnect without restriction, at both Victoria Island and Ibeju-Lekki.

This allows telcos to deploy across two sites for redundancy, meaning services are still available if one location faces disruption.

With IXPN now present in both campuses, telcos and data centres gain additional paths for public peering, which is the exchange of traffic over shared infrastructure rather than private bilateral links.

This setup supports lower latency and improves routing efficiency for local internet traffic.

The Lekki site also acts as a landing point for the 2Africa subsea cable system. 

2Africa connects more than 46 locations across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, bringing high-capacity bandwidth into Nigeria.

Linking this capacity directly with IXPN at Lekki means that incoming international traffic can be routed into local exchange points more efficiently.

Infrastructure for telco growth

Digital Realty is positioning the Lekki facility as a key node for Nigeria’s telco ecosystem.

Integrating IXPN within a site connected to a major subsea cable means the company creates a direct bridge between international capacity and domestic interconnection.

This reduces the need for traffic to travel abroad before returning to local users, a process that adds delay and cost.

Ike Nnamani, Managing Director at Digital Realty in Nigeria, says: “This activation at our Lekki campus represents a deepening of Digital Realty commitment to connecting the local and regional digital economy to global networks.

"By integrating IXPN’s exchange point, we are delivering resilient peering that enables lower latency and can increase operational efficiency for our customers."

The expansion also supports IXPN’s growing membership base, which includes more than 130 organisations spanning ISPs, global content providers and cloud operators.

Traffic growth and local exchange

IXPN's role in localising internet traffic is expanding, rather than sending data through international routes which increases latency and transit costs.

"Expanding IXPN to Digital Realty’s Lekki campus is a significant step in our journey to enhance connectivity across Nigeria," says Muhammed Rudman, CEO of IXPN.

"Our members are expected to benefit from faster, low-latency pathways, allowing broader digital inclusion and fuelling Nigeria’s digital economy."

Traffic figures underline the trend, as peak domestic internet traffic at IXPN exceeded one terabit per second in April 2025 and rose to more than two terabits per second by March 2026.

The growth highlights increasing reliance on local interconnection to handle rising demand from streaming, cloud services and digital applications.

By expanding IXPN’s reach within Lagos, Digital Realty provides additional infrastructure to manage that demand while improving resilience and efficiency across Nigeria’s telco networks.