West Africa’s main peering forum returns to Cotonou this June, IXP Nigeria (IXPN) said in a public call for participation. The West Africa Peering Forum (WAPF) 2026 runs 17-18 June 2026 in the Beninese capital, with the Call for Papers now open for ISPs, content providers, internet exchange operators and policymakers from across the region.
WAPF is organised annually by the Internet Society and brings together the technical leads behind West Africa’s interconnection ecosystem: ISP and content-delivery network engineers, IXP operators, regulators and policy analysts. Programme tracks for the 2026 edition cover internet exchange point development, cross-border interconnection, data centre growth, cloud and content localisation, internet resilience and affordability strategies.
The Call for Papers is open via the AFPIF Indico portal, with the programme committee co-chaired by BEHOU BRICE ABBA, Esther King and Obinna Adumike. Confirmed sponsors include Flexoptix as the lanyard sponsor and LINX as the bronze sponsor, with Renumesh as the event supporter. Registration is free and handled through the Internet Society’s WAPF 2026 event page.
IXP Nigeria, which is using the LinkedIn announcement to promote regional participation, said it is arranging logistics support for Nigerian operators travelling to Cotonou and noted that registration capacity is limited. The IXPN announcement adds to a broader push by West African internet exchange operators to bring more peering, content caching, and routing security capacity into the region.
WAPF has been a regular fixture on the West African internet calendar for over a decade, with prior editions covered on tech.africa including WAPF 2022 and WAPF 2021, the latter focused on building a resilient peering ecosystem in the region. The 2026 forum arrives at a moment when new submarine cable landings and data-centre buildout across West Africa are reshaping the economics of local interconnection.
West Africa Peering Forum (WAPF) 2026
The West Africa Peering Forum (WAPF) 2026 runs 17-18 June 2026 in Cotonou, Benin. Organised annually by the Internet Society, the forum gathers ISPs, content providers, IXP operators, regulators and policy analysts to discuss peering, interconnection, internet resilience and affordability across the region.
Event Type: Event
Event Attendance Mode: OfflineEventAttendanceMode
Event Status: EventScheduled
Performer: Organization
Performer Name: Internet Society
Performer URL: https://www.internetsociety.org/
Start Date: 2026-06-17 08:00
End Date: 2026-06-18 16:00
Ticket URL: https://www.internetsociety.org/events/wapf/2026/registration/
Currency: USD
Availability: InStock
Availability Starts: 2026-06-17T09:00:00+01:00
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