AFRINIC has elected a board. Now the hard work begins • The Register
The African Network Information Center (AFRINIC) last week held elections and announced the appointment of eight directors, which means it has a chance to convene a board for the first time since 2022.
For those who came in late, AFRINIC is one of five Regional Internet Registries, the organizations that delegate and manage IP addresses and autonomous system numbers. AFRINIC serves 54 nations across Africa and the Indian Ocean. The organization has been involved in a complex set of interlocking disputes with a member called Cloud Innovation, which it once tried to strip of a large IPv4 holding the registry feels is being misused, but which Cloud Innovation feels it acquired legitimately and is entitled to retain.
Cloud Innovation filed multiple lawsuits related to that dispute, and they left AFRINIC unable to appoint a CEO or elect board members. The registry has also been unable to perform its core function of allocating IP addresses to its members.
Courts in Mauritius, the nation AFRINIC calls home, appointed a receiver in 2024 and charged them with arranging and staging elections so the registry could reconstitute a board. The receiver’s first effort to do so failed after election officials annulled a June 2025 vote without explanation. The receiver arranged a fresh election under new rules, and scheduled it for late August, then delayed it to last week.
After polling closed, AFRINIC announced the election of eight directors.
Seven of the eight elected directors enjoyed the endorsement of Smart Africa, a body that has 40 member nations, which pursues a policy of improving adoption of digital technology across Africa.
A long way from safety
The election of directors leaves AFRINIC able to convene a board, a necessary step before it can hire a CEO, seek to unfreeze its bank accounts, and resume its work.
The Register suspects that work will not be easy.
Critics of AFRINIC claim that last week’s election took place under arrangements that may not be allowed under the organization’s bylaws. Sources tell us AFRINIC stakeholders are likely to ask Mauritius’ courts to consider if the election was properly run. Smart Africa has previously called for AFRINIC to follow its bylaws.
AFRINIC also remains subject to an investigation ordered by the government of Mauritius, although the validity of the government’s decision will be the subject of another court case later next week.
A criminal investigation into the June election is also under way.
Some in Africa’s internet community are also uncomfortable with Smart Africa’s slate holding a majority of seats on the new board, as the organization is felt to be dominated by a few countries – including some that may wish to become AFRINIC’s new home.
Smart Africa has not endorsed any member’s ambitions in that matter. It has, however, called for “a coordinated continental response to prevent institutional capture and ensure that no actor can disrupt Africa’s critical Internet functions.”
In 2023, Smart Africa reportedly resolved to revisit Cloud Innovation’s dispute with AFRINIC.
Cloud Innovation has fought fiercely to defend its interests and shown no sign of backing down.
AFRINIC’s new board therefore has active critics and foes before it even convenes, and will live with the possibility that Mauritian courts will constrain its actions.
Meanwhile, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees all five RIRs, is slowly developing a revised policy that would allow it to reform, or even de-register, rogue internet registries. ICANN initiated development of that policy in response to the crisis at AFRINIC.
A second draft of that policy landed in late August, along with a call for feedback by November.
Internet governance policy development happens at a gentle pace. But The Register expects that if AFRINIC’s new board can’t turn it around, ICANN and the other four RIRs will have negotiated a policy position that allows them to step in take decisive action. ®
