- LINX opens a new IXP in Accra in partnership with Digital Realty, marking its first exchange in West Africa.
- The facility aims to support regional traffic exchange and boost digital infrastructure in Ghana and neighboring countries.
What happened: LINX extends its global footprint with launch in Ghana
The London Internet Exchange (LINX) has launched a new Internet Exchange Point (IXP) in Accra, Ghana. The exchange, named LINX Accra, is hosted at Digital Realty’s carrier-neutral data centre in the city. The deployment marks LINX’s first physical presence in West Africa, adding to its growing international portfolio that includes IXPs in the UK, US, and Saudi Arabia.
According to the announcement, the new exchange will allow local and regional networks to interconnect directly, without routing traffic through Europe or North America. LINX describes this as a “significant step” in strengthening regional connectivity and internet performance. The platform will be managed using LINX’s ConneXions Fabric, a scalable interconnection system. LINX CTO Richard Petrie said the move aligns with LINX’s “vision for a more distributed and efficient internet.
Also read: Patrick Mbogo joins LINX to lead Africa growth strategy
Also read: LINX124 Conference 2025: 30th anniversary & global tech networking
Why it’s important
The launch of LINX Accra represents a key development in Africa’s internet infrastructure. For many countries in the region, internet traffic is still routed via Europe, adding latency and cost. Local IXPs can shorten paths between networks, speed up content delivery, and lower dependency on international bandwidth providers.
Ghana’s growing digital economy depends on low-latency access, especially as mobile use rises and cloud services expand. Hosting the IXP in Digital Realty’s facility ensures carrier-neutral access, making it attractive to ISPs, cloud platforms, and content delivery networks. LINX’s move follows the trend of global operators entering African markets, such as DE-CIX’s presence in Lagos and AFRINIC’s support for regional peering.
This expansion can help Ghana and its neighbours improve national broadband strategies. It also signals rising interest from international backbone players in Africa’s underserved markets, where demand continues to grow.
