Speakers:
- Frédéric Schepens, managing partner, InfraEight (Chairperson)
- Taha Hussain, regional manager MENA, AMS-IX
- Demos Kyriacou, deputy CEO, chief operations officer & co-founder, WINGU AFRICA
- Ayotunde Coker, CEO, Open Access Data Centres
- Richard Petrie, CTO, LINX
- Mehmet Tik, edge strategy lead, Meta
The role of internet exchanges and peering can be overlooked in MEA digital transformation efforts. However, as this Datacloud Middle East 2026 panel discussion examined, the local exchange of traffic will be critical in the shift to inference and other latency-dependent use cases.
As hyperscalers race to deploy AI infrastructure across the region, the conversation between government ministers and technology leaders often settles on GPU clusters and power capacity. Interconnection infrastructure is a critical enabler of AI, but is often invisible.
That was the central theme of a recent panel discussion moderated by Frédéric Schepens, who challenged industry leaders to “stop treating interconnection as plumbing and start treating it as a strategic weapon” in determining which locations will win the AI race.
Tackling latency
With much of the AI infrastructure discussion focusing on training models, which operate within GPU fabric environments, the shift towards inference computing is where interconnection becomes critical.
“When you get into inference, you start looking at how to connect to the rest of the world,” explained Richard Petrie, CTO at LINX. “That’s where it gets interesting for IXs and interconnectivity. We’re starting to see the inference compute being pushed to the edge where interconnection and IXs have a role.”
For applications like AI agents or immersive experiences requiring sub-five millisecond latency, the quality of local interconnection infrastructure becomes the difference between success and failure.
As Mehmet Tik, edge strategy lead at Meta emphasised: “The shortest and fastest way to accelerate digital transformation of the region is to keep regional traffic regional – serving it in the region, not from the old style of going to Europe or Asia.”
Achieving truly local traffic exchange remains a work in progress across much of MENA, the panel discussed. Whilst technical capabilities exist, with regional IXs running 400 gig and 800 gig connections, and investing in 1.6 terabit capacity – regulatory barriers continue to impact progress.
“In this region, people sometimes face difficulties establishing private networks unless they are licensed operators,” said Taha Hussain, regional manager MENA at AMS-IX. “Setting up an actual operator requires high capital for fixed or mobile systems, which is why we see a limited number of large operators.”
Building carrier-neutral ecosystems
The panellists agreed that genuine carrier neutrality remains essential for attracting international content providers and hyperscalers. When challenged on whether regional IXs are truly neutral or merely proxies for incumbent operators, both Hussain and Petrie defended their independence, whilst also acknowledging the importance of working constructively with regulators and established players.
“We don’t enter any market just to put our logo there,” said Hussain. “We have conditions before entering any data centre. We ensure that even if we’re partnering with an incumbent, operators within the country or across borders have the same access and rights to reach the IX.”
From the data centre perspective, Ayotunde Coker, CEO at Open Access Data Centres, made the case that interconnection and infrastructure development must proceed hand-in-hand.
“Cloud, edge compute and AI won’t go into a data centre that’s not highly interconnected,” he said. “At the same time, if a data centre provider doesn’t have highly interconnected open access capability – maybe an IX or multiple IXs – you won’t get interest from edge providers, cloud providers and AI.”
He then posed the question: “Which comes first – the interconnection, the peering ecosystem, or the AI, cloud, edge and power?”
His suggestion was that they must develop together, with interconnection serving as the glue that makes everything else function. As the importance of these interconnected ecosystems becomes obvious when systems fail.
“You only realise it when it’s not there,” said Demos Kyriacou, deputy CEO, chief operations officer & co-founder at WINGU AFRICA, referencing the fibre cuts that struck the region’s east and west coasts eighteen months ago.
“That’s when everybody realised how important it is to have the basic components: undersea cables and the ability to interconnect.”
Content localisation and data sovereignty
Beyond pure technical capacity, content localisation emerged as a key driver of value creation. Tik explained that local content delivery improves not just latency but also AI outcomes.
“Up-to-date knowledge from local content and news improves AI agents, outcomes and models,” he said. “It also helps with load balancing and high availability.”
Kyriacou framed the benefits in economic terms: “Localisation means more participation – trickling down to the economy, bringing in startups. When government enables participation and openness for businesses and enterprises, students contribute to the economy. That’s when you see the value of AI in data centres.”
However, regulatory environments are continuing to change dramatically across the region. Whilst countries like Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia were praised by the panel for their progressive approach, others are unfortunately lagging.
“There are countries in the Middle East that still require more effort,” said Hussain. “Some are closed at the border level or in regulations. Some IXPs are somewhat closed and difficult to reach across borders.”
The panel cited Ethiopia as a clear example of both the potential and challenges. Despite abundant green power and a Tier III certified data centre, Kyriacou noted the country has emerged from “almost 100 years of monopoly” and whilst a regulator is working to open the market, mindsets take time to change.
“There’s an exchange set up in Ethiopia, but not all members and players are there,” he added. “The incumbent isn’t party because they feel they have all the traffic. You have to change how people think.”
The consensus amongst panellists was clear: technology readiness has largely been achieved, but regulatory frameworks and commercial models must evolve to unlock the region’s full potential.
As Petrie summarised: “It isn’t one thing, isn’t just technology, isn’t just data centres. It’s everybody working together. We’ve got to try and fix it together.”
For governments crafting AI strategies, the message is equally clear. Without open, neutral interconnection infrastructure, even the most ambitious GPU deployments and power investments could fail to deliver on their promise.
As Coker put it: “You can have your billions of gigawatts of AI, but if there’s no way to evacuate that to the point of consumption, it’s a waste.
“Interconnection creates the route to evacuate all this compute to the point of use.”
