•15 states lack resource
•Any network without ASN doesn’t exist globally, experts confirm
By Juliet Umeh
As Nigeria pushes to position itself as Africa’s digital powerhouse, rolling out faster broadband, expanding data centres, deepening fintech innovation, investing in artificial intelligence, and digitising government services, a less visible but critical gap threatens to undermine that ambition.
Behind the headlines about 5G deployment, soaring startup valuations, and new data infrastructure lies a foundational weakness: Nigeria does not have enough Autonomous System Numbers, ASNs, a core component of the internet’s architecture.
Industry experts raised the alarm at the Africa Hyperscalers Digital Infrastructure Workshop held in Lagos, warning that without a significant increase in locally registered and properly managed ASNs, Nigeria’s digital economy could be expanding on fragile ground.
They explained that while fibre networks and data centres form the physical backbone of connectivity, ASNs serve as the routing identity that allows networks to communicate globally. Without sufficient ASNs, Nigerian networks remain overly dependent on foreign intermediaries for routing, limiting resilience, visibility, and control.
The passport to the global internet
Experts at the workshop described ASNs as a “passport” to the global internet. Just as a passport enables a country to be recognised and interact independently on the global stage, an ASN allows a network to announce its presence, exchange traffic directly, and participate fully in the global routing system.
Without that passport, networks must rely on others to speak on their behalf, a situation that can increase costs, reduce efficiency, and weaken digital sovereignty.
As Nigeria accelerates its digital transformation agenda, stakeholders argue that strengthening this often-overlooked layer of infrastructure may determine whether the country truly leads Africa’s digital future or merely participates from the sidelines.
Nigeria’s ASN numbers tell a troubling story. According to global registry data: the United States has about 91 ASNs per million people, Brazil 43, South Africa 13, Kenya 3- while Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and largest tech market, has just one ASN per million people.
Domestically, the imbalance is even starker. Lagos leads with 171 ASNs, Abuja has 50, Delta 33, Rivers 9, and Oyo, Ogun, and Kano have six each. Alarmingly, 15 states have none at all.
“If you don’t have an ASN, you don’t exist”
CEO of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, IXPN, Mr. Muhammed Rudman, while speaking on this stated: “Globally, if you don’t have an ASN, you don’t exist,” he said. “Your network might function locally, but from the perspective of the global internet, you are invisible.”
Rudman explained that every independent network connected to the internet requires an ASN to route traffic autonomously. Without one, organisations rely on another network’s ASN, which restricts scalability and competitiveness, especially for banks, universities, ISPs, and enterprises seeking to expand digitally.
Head of Converged Digital Infrastructure Africa at Open Access Data Centres, Obinna Adumike, echoed the warning: “From a global perspective, if you don’t have an ASN, you don’t exist. Global networks cannot peer directly with you. You cannot scale beyond your immediate environment.”
A paradox of growth
Nigeria’s internet ecosystem appears to be thriving. Through IXPN, 60-70 percent of internet traffic is now routed locally; a sharp improvement from the early years when almost all traffic left the country.
“When we started, less than one percent of traffic was local,” Rudman said. “By 2015, we were at four gigabits per second; by 2020, 200 gigabits; and as of December last year, about two terabits.”
But much of this traffic comes from global content giants like YouTube, social media platforms, and international cloud services, rather than Nigerian-owned platforms. According to the Internet Society’s Pulse reports, only about two percent of the top 1,000 websites accessed in Nigeria are hosted locally.
Even prominent Nigerian platforms often rely on foreign hosting. Traffic may originate locally, but control and data remain offshore. The result: a digital economy that looks large but remains externally dependent.
The geography of invisibility
The domestic distribution of ASNs exposes a deep regional divide. Nine states have at least three ASNs, the majorities have two or fewer and 15 states have none.
Residents and businesses in those states rely almost entirely on mobile network operators for connectivity. Alternative broadband providers are scarce, limiting competition. Over 99 percent of internet users in Nigeria access the internet via mobile networks, while fixed broadband, wireless fibre, and satellite account for only a small fraction.
Excessive concentration reduces diversity and resilience. “In some states, the only option is the mobile network operator. There is no competitive ecosystem,” an industry stakeholder noted. Nigeria ranks poorly in service provider diversity compared to countries like South Africa.
Barriers holding Nigeria back
Several factors contribute to Nigeria’s slow ASN growth, including limited awareness among banks, universities, and government agencies of the strategic importance of owning autonomous systems, regulatory and cost barriers such as high charges, complex approvals, and transmission costs that discourage new networks outside Lagos, and a shortage of skilled network engineers trained in Border Gateway Protocol, BGP, management, which limits effective ASN use.
Even institutions with ASNs often struggle to fully utilise them due to insufficient technical expertise.
A push for Visibility
To address the deficit, IXPN and industry partners aim to onboard 100 new ASNs within a year through advocacy, enterprise engagement, and technical training. The focus is on encouraging banks, universities, government agencies, and regional ISPs to acquire independent routing identities.
“More autonomous systems mean more competition and more resilience,” Rudman said. “It’s about building a vibrant and independent internet ecosystem.”
Policy actors, including the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, are expected to simplify processes and incentivise decentralised infrastructure growth.
Without stronger ASN penetration, experts warn, Nigeria risks remaining a large consumer in a system where real power lies with those controlling routing, peering, and network independence. In a world where the internet defines economic relevance, invisibility is a risk Nigeria can ill afford, as Rudman put it: networks without ASNs are simply not seen.
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