One of Africa’s fastest-growing carrier-neutral data centre operators, Open Access Data Centres, has introduced a new interconnection platform in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of an initiative to remove the obstacles keeping the continent’s internet ecosystem costly, inconsistent, and sluggish.
About the Open Access Fabric (OAFabric)
The Open Access Fabric (OAFabric) service is operational in OADC’s facilities in Lagos and Kinshasa. It is intended to provide companies with a means of avoiding some of the continent’s most significant connectivity issues, such as unstable international routes, expensive internet transit, deficiencies in local data infrastructure, and regulatory complexities surrounding data sovereignty.
“If you struggle to deliver consistent user experiences due to unreliable or expensive international routes, OAfabric will enable direct, low-latency on-ramp peering with global and local cloud and content providers, helping to reduce transit costs and improve performance,” the Chief Executive Officer of OADC told journalists at the launch in Lagos.
According to OADC, the Oafabric platform provides a collaborative and open-access digital ecosystem that facilitates rapid interconnection between networks, cloud providers, enterprises, and content platforms.
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The solution seeks to streamline and expedite digital exchange, minimising delays, fragmentation, and complexity, in contrast to conventional models that depend on constructing more physical infrastructure.
Addressing African problems with local solutions via OAfabric
African businesses have long had to pay some of the highest internet rates in the world, and they frequently rely on global networks to connect to cloud and content providers. As a result of this dependence, users have experienced increased latency and erratic performance.
OAfabric seeks to reduce those expenses and provide quicker, more dependable connections by establishing direct, low-latency pathways to local and international cloud platforms.
According to Coker, the platform was created to address particular issues that African companies face.
“We designed OAfabric around the real challenges African businesses face. It is about solving problems, reducing the cost to compute, improving performance, unlocking access to cloud and content, and creating an environment where companies can scale confidently while accelerating time to market,” he said in a statement on Friday.
In addition to connectivity, OAfabric aims to promote the growth of regional digital ecosystems. The platform’s creation of open, carrier-neutral interconnection points allows businesses to scale services and enter new markets more quickly and effectively.
“OAfabric is not just infrastructure; it represents a shift in what is possible for Africa’s digital economy,” Coker added.
“By removing barriers and enabling seamless, high-performance peering between key ecosystems, including local and global Internet Exchange Points, content providers, cloud platforms, and enterprises, it provides the frictionless interconnection needed to access digital services more efficiently.”
Open Access Data Centres’ future goals
According to the company, one of its goals is to expand OAfabric into more African markets to increase its visibility and fortify access to global cloud ecosystems and content.
OAfabric, which offers hubs for connectivity, cloud, content, and collaboration, is a component of OADC’s larger plan to speed up Africa’s digital future.
According to the company, the platform supports a pan-African digital ecosystem by facilitating seamless interconnection between networks, service providers, and businesses, strengthening the continent’s digital economy.