WACREN and Layer3 Strengthen AfricaConnect3 Network with 10Gbps Link Between Lagos and Cape Town

The West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN), in partnership with Nigerian infrastructure company Layer3, has established a 10 Gbps high-capacity link between Lagos and Cape Town. The connection, created under the AfricaConnect3 (AC3) initiative, marks a major milestone in improving Africa’s research and education connectivity.

The 10 Gbps link connects through the ZAOXI Global Exchange Point in Cape Town, enabling direct, high-speed data exchange between WACREN and the Southern African research and education networks. The development eliminates the need for intra-African academic traffic to be routed through Europe, significantly reducing latency and improving performance for research collaboration across the continent.

Layer3’s Role in the AfricaConnect3 Project

Layer3 provided the core network solution for WACREN’s AfricaConnect3 infrastructure upgrade. The Nigerian company deployed high-capacity backbone hardware and scalable network systems in multiple points of presence (PoPs), including Lagos, Accra, and London. The upgrade allows WACREN’s backbone to support up to 400 GbE capacity, offering improved scalability and reliability for connected institutions.

The network forms part of AfricaConnect3, a European Union–co-funded program designed to interconnect the continent’s research and education networks. It brings together three regional networks:

• WACREN (West and Central Africa)

• UbuntuNet Alliance (Eastern and Southern Africa)

• ASREN (Arab States and North Africa)

Through this collaboration, researchers, universities, and innovation hubs across Africa gain access to high-speed connectivity and global research networks, including Europe’s GÉANT.

A Unified Digital Continent for Science and Education

The new link is one of several infrastructure enhancements under the AfricaConnect3 program, which aims to strengthen digital collaboration across the continent’s academic and scientific communities.
While the confirmed 10 Gbps connection links Lagos and Cape Town, plans within the wider AfricaConnect3 framework continue to expand connectivity with North African networks such as ASREN and Egypt’s Egyptian Universities Network (EUN).

The initiative represents a broader effort to establish a unified pan-African research and education network, improving data sharing, online learning, and scientific exchange across regions.