Nigeria's IXPN Upgrades 3 Lagos Hubs to 400G as Traffic Tops 2 Tbps
Updated
Updated · CIO Africa · Jul 6
Nigeria's IXPN Upgrades 3 Lagos Hubs to 400G as Traffic Tops 2 Tbps
1 articles · Updated · CIO Africa · Jul 6
Summary
400G peering is now available at IXPN’s three main Lagos sites—Equinix LG1, Digital Realty LOS1 and Rack Centre—after the exchange completed a core switching upgrade.
Peak domestic traffic drove the move: IXPN said volumes rose from more than 1 terabit per second in April 2025 to over 2 terabits per second by March 2026.
Native 400G links let members avoid bundling multiple 100G connections, cutting cross-connect needs, simplifying network design and improving port utilisation.
Next, IXPN plans to shift its own inter-site backbone from aggregated 100G links to native 400G and begin onboarding members at the new speed.
More than 130 members use Nigeria’s largest internet exchange, which has been estimated to save local networks about $40 million a year by keeping traffic domestic.
With Nigeria's internet core now 400G-ready, what is the next major hurdle in its digital transformation?
Will Nigeria's 400G internet upgrade in Lagos widen the digital divide across the country?
Beyond faster speeds, how will localizing Nigeria's internet traffic reshape its digital economy and sovereignty?
IXPN Deploys 400G in Lagos: Powering Nigeria’s Next-Generation Digital Economy
Overview
The Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) has upgraded its core network by deploying 400G switches across three major data centers in Lagos. This move modernizes Nigeria’s internet backbone, preparing it for rapidly growing digital traffic and reinforcing the country’s role in the regional digital economy. By migrating inter-PoP backbones and onboarding the first 400G peers, IXPN is rebuilding the nation’s internet infrastructure for the next generation of connectivity. This upgrade directly responds to surging domestic traffic, ensuring faster, more reliable internet services and supporting Nigeria’s expanding digital ecosystem.