Predictive Graph-Neural Network Frameworks for Optimizing Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in Sub-Saharan Africa
# Project Kijiji π
### Distributed Network Observability & Predictive Modeling Platform
> *"How can Graph Neural Networks predict optimal peering points to mitigate routing detours in Sub-Saharan digital infrastructure?"*
A research-grade platform that maps, detects, and predicts African Internet routing inefficiencies β quantifying the latency and economic cost of traffic that unnecessarily routes through European hubs before reaching its destination.
Built as a DAAD scholarship research project targeting **SDG 9.4** (resilient infrastructure).
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## Table of Contents
1. The Research Problem
2. Architecture Overview
3. Module Breakdown
4. Tech Stack
5. Data Sources
6. Getting Started
7. File Structure
8. Research Pillars
9. Roadmap
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## The Research Problem
A packet sent from Nairobi to Lagos β two African cities ~4,000km apart β often routes through Frankfurt or London before arriving. This "trombone routing" pattern is a legacy of colonial-era infrastructure and the lack of direct IXP (Internet Exchange Point) peering agreements between African ASes (Autonomous Systems).
**The cost is measurable:**
- Added latency: 100β200ms per round trip
- Economic waste: transit fees paid to European carriers
- Human cost: degraded access to cloud services, real-time applications, and digital economy tools for populations with the least connectivity alternatives
This platform answers: *where should new peering agreements be established, and what is the predicted regional latency dividend if they were?*
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## Architecture Overview
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β DASHBOARD (React + Vite) β
β Topology Map β Trombone Panel β Fragility Rank β Sim β
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β REST (Tinybird pipes) β WebSocket (optional,
β β live BGP bridge)
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β TINYBIRD β β¦