Accra-IX, Ghana’s newest internet exchange, has announced it is now handling 200 Gbps of aggregate traffic. The figure is supported by a total of 525 Gbps in connected port capacity, meaning the exchange is running at approximately 38% utilization.
A Young Exchange on the Rise
The milestone marks significant growth for Accra-IX, which only launched in 2023. The 200 Gbps figure, announced on August 10, 2026, is not independently verified as the exchange does not publish a public traffic graph. However, public routing data shows the network is plausible, with four 100 Gbps ports from Meta, Fastly, MTN Ghana, and GVA of Cote d’Ivoire.
In contrast to its rapid growth, Accra-IX has fewer members than the older GIXA, with 22 networks compared to 24. Yet, its capacity is far greater, at 525 Gbps versus GIXA’s 214 Gbps. This highlights a key difference in how Ghana’s internet infrastructure has developed.
A Fragmented Internet Environment
The most revealing data is not the total traffic, but the overlap between Ghana’s three exchanges. Across all three, there are only 39 distinct networks. A mere four are connected to all three exchanges: Meta, AFR-IX Telecom, Broadspectrum, and The Cloud Network. Another 28 networks connect to only a single exchange.
This fragmentation means that two networks in Ghana, each peering locally, might not share a common exchange. In such cases, traffic between them must travel through a third-party transit provider, often leaving the country before returning. This undermines the primary benefit of local peering, which is to keep traffic within the country.
For example, Google and Akamai only connect to GIXA. Fastly is only at Accra-IX. A retail provider connected only to Accra-IX has no direct local path to Google or Akamai, two of the largest sources of consumer traffic, forcing them to pay for transit to reach these networks.
This split also affects the mobile operators. MTN Ghana is present on both GIXA and Accra-IX, while Airtel Ghana is only on GIXA. The GIXA exchange also hosts critical measurement infrastructure from Packet Clearing House and the University of Oregon’s Route Views project.
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The existence of three exchanges in one city is not inherently negative. Competition has brought 100 Gbps-capable fabric to Ghana quickly. However, an exchange is only as valuable as the networks it connects. With 28 of 39 networks on a single exchange, Ghana has three partial views of its internet instead of one complete one.
Scale and Competition
The exchange has 22 networks connected to it. This is fewer than the older GIXA, which has 24. Despite fewer members, Accra-IX has greater capacity. This shows a significant difference in the infrastructure.
The three exchanges in Accra serve different roles. GIXA, running since 2013, has 24 networks across 27 routers. Its largest ports are 20 Gbps. LINX Accra, registered in mid-2025, has 8 networks and 171 Gbps of capacity.
Network Distribution and Data Sources
Such networks must route traffic via transit, potentially leaving the country. The data was compiled on August 10, 2026. Network membership and port speeds were taken from bgp.tools and cross-checked against PeeringDB. Exchange operator pages list slightly different numbers.
The figures show connected capacity, not actual traffic flow. A public traffic graph would reveal the data currently missing. The key measure of local peering growth is how much Ghanaian traffic stays within Ghana. None of the exchanges publish this figure.
Content and Peering Challenges
The placement of major content networks creates a peering challenge. Google and Akamai only connect to GIXA. Fastly is only at Accra-IX. This split forces some networks to pay for transit to reach popular content.
