Africa’s main peering event returns to Kigali this month, and in-person registration has already closed. The 15th African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) 2026 runs from 18 to 20 August 2026 at the Kigali Marriott Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda, with arrivals and registration from 17 August. The programme is streamed publicly from 18 August.
AfPIF is hosted by the African IXP Association (Af-IX) in partnership with the Rwanda Internet Community and Technology Alliance (RICTA), with support from the Internet Society. It is the second time Rwanda has hosted the forum, after 2022. The event historically draws 300 to 500 attendees from the local, regional and global internet industry.
What is on the programme
The organisers describe a mix of presentations, panel discussions, workshops and structured networking covering peering, interconnection, infrastructure and the future of Africa’s internet ecosystem. AfPIF is where the people who actually run African networks negotiate: IXP operators, transit and content providers, data centre operators and the engineers who decide where traffic is exchanged.
That makes it the forum where much of the continent’s interconnection changes hands. Peering arrangements agreed in the corridors at AfPIF show up months later as new members on exchange fabrics, of the kind we have tracked at JINX and IXPN Lagos this year.
Attending
In-person registration is closed. The forum will be live-streamed on the African IXP Association’s YouTube channel from 18 August, free and without registration. Attendance at the conference and its social events is free. Optional premium tickets, sold through the Brella event platform used for registration, add lunch on all three days and the ability to request meetings with any registered attendee.
Rwanda’s selection continues a run of host countries chosen partly for their interconnection policy. RICTA operates the Rwanda Internet Exchange and manages the .rw registry, and the government has positioned the country as a regional digital hub.
African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) 2026
The 15th African Peering and Interconnection Forum runs 18-20 August 2026 at the Kigali Marriott Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. Hosted by the African IXP Association with RICTA, it gathers IXP operators, transit and content providers, data centre operators and network engineers to discuss peering and interconnection across Africa.
Event Type: Event
Event Attendance Mode: Online + Offline
Event Status: EventScheduled
Venue Name: Kigali Marriott Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda
Address: PostalAddress, Kigali, RW
Performer: Organization
Performer Name: African IXP Association (Af-IX)
Performer URL: https://www.af-ix.org/
Start Date: 2026-08-18 09:00
End Date: 2026-08-20 17:00
Ticket URL: https://youtube.com/@AfricanIXPs
Currency: USD
Availability: InStock
Availability Starts: 2026-08-18T09:00:00
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