Keypoints:
- First Africa-wide research link established
- Lagos–Cape Town 10 Gbps connection live
- Six new WACREN countries connected
AFRICA’S research and education community has achieved a milestone with the first direct interconnection of regional research and education networks (RRENs) on African soil.
The West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN) is now linked to the Eastern and Southern African community at the ZAOXI Global Exchange Point (GXP) in Cape Town. The connection, enabled through the South African Research and Education Network (SANReN) and the Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa (TENET), marks a turning point in the continent’s digital research fabric.
According to WACREN, the development ends a long dependence on routing African research traffic through Europe, which increased costs and slowed collaboration.
10 Gbps link from Lagos to Cape Town
The new high-capacity 10 Gbps link between Lagos and Cape Town enables researchers, educators, and innovators to share data more affordably and reliably.
‘The connection through ZAOXI represents more than just infrastructure; it represents Africa claiming its rightful place in the global digital research fabric,’ said Dr Eyouleki T.G. Palanga, CEO of WACREN. ‘By strengthening interconnections across the continent, we empower our universities, research centres, and innovators to drive solutions to Africa’s grand challenges in health, climate, agriculture, and education — with Africa’s data flowing through African pathways.’
The initiative was made possible through the establishment of the Lagos GXP, Africa’s second such exchange point, and its linkage with ZAOXI in Cape Town. Both GXPs are part of the AfricaConnect programme, co-funded by the European Union and African partners, which has supported the growth of research and education networks across the continent.
Expanding WACREN’s reach
As part of its expansion, WACREN has extended its backbone to six additional countries: The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Sierra Leone and Senegal.
The interconnection strengthens the role of the UbuntuNet Alliance — the Eastern and Southern African RREN — in a shared digital ecosystem. By connecting two major regional networks, the move lays the groundwork for a pan-African research environment that is globally connected through partnerships with Internet2 (USA), CANARIE (Canada), RedCLARA (Latin America), CSTNET (China), ANSP (Brazil) and GÉANT (Europe).
Boost for science and innovation
For universities and research centres, the benefits are immediate. Climate scientists can integrate real-time data across borders, health researchers can exchange large datasets more efficiently, and universities can expand e-learning with reduced latency.
WACREN is also preparing a federated high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure across several countries. Building on its GPU-enabled cloud upgrade completed in 2024, the new system will allow basin-wide water modelling, large-scale climate simulations and advanced scientific computing beyond the capacity of single institutions.
‘South Africa’s national research and education infrastructure has long invested in advanced computing and connectivity to serve our research community,’ said Sabelo Dhlamini, Director of SANReN. ‘By linking SANReN’s high-speed backbone and HPC resources with WACREN through the ZAOXI exchange, we are helping to create an environment where African researchers can collaborate at scale.’
Towards a pan-African research fabric
The interconnection ensures Africa’s research traffic increasingly stays within the continent. It also positions African institutions as equal players in global science and technology collaborations.
By building regional links from Lagos to Cape Town, Africa’s research networks are moving closer to the long-envisioned pan-African digital fabric, supporting both regional priorities and global engagement.
