Strengthening the Cloud Foundation for Community Networks Across Africa

Supporting Community Network Infrastructure

Community networks and local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are helping extend reliable internet access to communities that would otherwise have limited connectivity. As these networks grow, so does the need for secure and efficient tools to manage their operations.

Gonline Africa is developing a centralized network billing and management platform intended to support community networks and Internet Service Providers across Africa. The platform is designed to help operators manage billing workflows, user access, and connectivity services across distributed MikroTik-based network environments.

To support this initiative, Help.NGO partnered with Gonline Africa to establish the managed cloud infrastructure foundation for the platform. Under a no-cost Scope of Work running from May 20, 2026 to May 19, 2027, Help.NGO provides cloud infrastructure deployment, cPanel server management, VPN connectivity support, and server administration for Gonline Africa’s planned cloud-hosted environment.

The engagement defines the technical architecture, support model, and managed services required to host the platform securely and prepare it for operational use by community networks and ISPs.

Planned AWS Environment

The deployment is hosted on Amazon Web Services in the Africa Cape Town Region, af-south-1. The recommended server environment includes Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS running on an AWS EC2 t3a.xlarge instance with 4 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 150 GB SSD gp3 storage, and a Public Elastic IP address.

The environment is intended to support cPanel server management, Apache Web Server, PHP 8.2+, MariaDB 10.11 or MySQL 8.0, Redis for sessions, caching, and rate limiting, and HTTPS/SSL/TLS configuration. These components provide the core hosting, application runtime, database, caching, and security layers for the billing platform.

Help.NGO also supports Elastic IP configuration, DNS mapping, SSL/TLS implementation, security hardening, patch management, monitoring, and infrastructure maintenance as part of the managed service environment.

VPN and MikroTik Connectivity

A key component of the architecture is secure communication between the cloud-hosted billing platform and on-premise MikroTik router environments. The infrastructure includes WireGuard VPN services to support encrypted connectivity between AWS and distributed MikroTik deployments.

The platform is designed around MikroTik-based network operations, including Hotspot and PPPoE services. Technical requirements include MikroTik API access through port 8728 or 8729 with SSL, VPN-based connectivity through WireGuard or OpenVPN/VPS services, and support for up to five MikroTik devices per organization.

This approach allows the cloud-hosted platform to communicate securely with router infrastructure in the field while keeping MikroTik hardware outside the AWS environment.

Managed Services and Operational Support

Help.NGO’s role is focusing on provisioning, configuring, securing, and maintaining the cloud infrastructure needed to support the platform. Planned services include AWS EC2 provisioning, Ubuntu Server installation and configuration, cPanel installation, Apache deployment and optimization, PHP environment setup, MariaDB or MySQL configuration, Redis installation, WireGuard VPN management, and SSL/TLS enablement.

The engagement includes monitoring, patch management, backup advisory, technical troubleshooting, escalation support, MikroTik connectivity support, and documentation. An IT Support Specialist provides up to eight hours of support per month, with coordination and escalation support from a Cloud Advocacy Technician or Engineer as required.

Reliability, Security, and Scalability

The managed environment is designed to reduce risks associated with unmanaged infrastructure, including downtime, inconsistent connectivity, reduced performance, and exposure to security vulnerabilities. The implementation aligns with AWS Well-Architected Framework principles, including operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimization, and sustainability.

By establishing this cloud-hosted infrastructure, Gonline Africa is expected to have a more reliable technical foundation for their billing operations, MikroTik integrations, secure web hosting, and expanded community network and ISP use cases.

Looking Ahead

As implementation progresses, Help.NGO and Gonline Africa will be able to refine the environment, validate connectivity, document configurations, and update the technical story based on completed deployment work.

For now, the engagement establishes the cloud architecture and managed service model needed to support Gonline Africa’s network billing platform. It creates a foundation for secure hosting, VPN-based router connectivity, centralized administration, and future scalability across community network deployments in Africa.

For additional context, you can view Gonline Africa's LinkedIn post here.

For more information about Help.NGO's work, please visit www.help.ngo.

Written by:

Matthew Silver, U.S.-based Research Consultant at Help.NGO. He supports the organization’s global operations by leading critical research initiatives, overseeing communications quality, and advancing strategic development efforts across multiple domains. Matthew holds a B.S. in Sociocultural Anthropology and Political Science from Colgate University and is passionate about applying rigorous analysis to humanitarian efforts, bridging academic insight with real-world impact.