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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">Dear Colleagues,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<i><span style="font-size:12.0pt">In Africa, there is an insufficient number of active Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). Because of this, high volume of Internet traffic has to travel unnecessarily too far</span>
</i><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt">to be exchanged before it then returns to the same geographical location, resulting in higher costs and slower speeds. IXPs improve Internet access by keeping local traffic localized and, because of that, faster and more
affordable. To be effective, IXPs need engineers, service providers, content developers, and policymakers who share the belief that a strong, collaborative community can leverage the Internet ecosystem to
<span style="color:#161616">improve connectivity and increase the value of the Internet for end users</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Internet Society (ISOC) invite you to join us for a webinar on:
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in;text-align:center">
<strong><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0070C0">“Building African IXP Infrastructure: Progressing the Coalition for Digital Africa.”<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
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<strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Monday, 30 January 2023, 14:00 UTC<span style="color:#0070C0"><o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt">We will discuss the ever-changing landscape of African interconnection and introduce our new partnership to improve the IXP infrastructure in Africa.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt">ICANN Interim President & CEO Sally Costerton, ISOC CEO Andrew Sullivan,
<strong><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">and the African IXP Association (AF-IX) Co-Coordinator Kyle Spencer</span></strong><b><span style="color:black">
</span></b>will share their thoughts about the future of peering and interconnection in Africa and how our partnership will help to speed Internet access for users across the continent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Kindly register </span></b><a href="https://events.zoom.us/ev/Al1m_2QI349WkyLgJVCXpOP4L0onkb3RB61EmFnUa_ECHdT6fXL7~AggLXsr32QYFjq8BlYLZ5I06Dg"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt">here</span></b></a><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt">.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<i><span style="font-size:12.0pt">The webinar <strong><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">will be conducted in English, with simultaneous interpretation in French; and
</span></strong>recorded for those who cannot attend the live session. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt">All are welcome to attend this webinar. Please feel free to forward this invite to anyone you think may be interested.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt">Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt">ICANN and ISOC<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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