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{{CompanyInfo|
{{Actor
| type            =Afrinic logo.png
|stakeholder group=Technical
| industry        =
|actor type=Regional Internet Registry
| founded        =
|country=Mauritius
| founder(s)      =
|website=https://afrinic.net
| purchase        =
|issue areas=Number Resources
| ownership      =
|Logo=AFRINIC.jpg
| headquarters    =
|founded=2000-2004
| country        =
|founder(s)=[[Niii Quaynor]],<br>[[Alan Barrett]]<br>[[Sana Bellamine]]<br>[[Nashwa Abdel-Baki]]
| products        =
|headquarters=11th Floor Raffles Tower<br>Cybercity<br>Ebene, Mauritius
| employees       =
|employees=>50
| revenue        =
|twitter=afrinic
| businesses      =
|keypeople=[[Alan Barrett|Alan P. Barrett]], CEO<br>
| website        =
[[Christian D. Bope ]], Board Chair<br>
| keypeople      =
[[Seun Ojedeji ]], Vice Chair <br>
|facebook=https://www.facebook.com/afrinic/
|LinkedIn=https://www.linkedin.com/company/afrinic/
}}
}}
The '''African Network Information Center''' '''(AFRINIC)''' is the [[Regional Internet Registry]] of Africa and the Indian Ocean.
==Overview==
All the information concerning African registered resources and domain names can be found within the AFRINIC [[Whois]] database; all this information and the AFRINIC database is available to the public for transparency purposes, but it is under copyright.<ref>[http://www.afrinic.net/db/index.htm AFRINIC General Information]</ref>
==Board of Directors==
{| class="wikitable"
| '''Seat Number''' || '''Name''' || '''Country''' || '''Region''' || '''From''' || '''Until'''
|-
| Seat 1 || [[Habib Youssef]] ('''Vice-Chairman''') || Tunisia || Northern Africa || 20 June 2019 || June 2022
|-
| Seat 2 || [[Emmanuel Adewale Adedokun]] || Nigeria || Western Africa || 20 June 2019 || June 2022
|-
| Seat 3 || [[Subramanian Moonesamy]] ('''Chair''') || Mauritius || Indian Ocean || 18 September 2020 || June 2023
|-
| Seat 4 || [[Serge Ilunga]] || DRC Congo || Central Africa || 18 September 2020 || June 2023
|-
| Seat 5 || [[Vika William Mpisane]] || South Africa || Southern Africa || 20 June 2019 || June 2021
|-
| Seat 6 || [[Abdalla Omari]] || Kenya || Eastern Africa || 18 September 2020 || June 2022
|-
| Seat 7 || [[Seun Ojedeji]]  || Nigeria || Non-Regional Africa || 20 June 2019 || June 2022
|-
| Seat 8 || [[Benjamin Eshun]] || Ghana || Non-Regional Africa || 18 September 2020 || June 2023
|-
| Seat 9 || [[Eddy Kayihura]] ('''Appointed CEO of AFRINIC''')<ref>[https://afrinic.net/board AFRINIC Current Board]</ref> || || || ||
|}


== The Creation of AFRINIC==
The African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) is a non-governmental and not-for-profit membership based organization. Its main role is to serve as the Regional Internet Registry ([[RIR]]) for the African region. AFRINIC was recognized by [[ICANN]] as a functioning regional registry and information centre in 2004. Before the creation of AFRINIC, all [[IP Address]]es were managed by [[APNIC]], [[ARIN]], and [[RIPE NCC]].<ref>[http://afrinic.net/en/about-us About AFRINIC]</ref>


'''AfriNIC''' is the acronym used for '''African Network Information Center''' and represents the regional Internet Registry of Africa. AfriNIC is a member of NRO (National Reconnaissance Office)
AFRINIC's mission is: "To serve the African Community by providing professional and efficient management of Internet number technology usage and development, and promoting Internet self-governance." <ref>[http://afrinic.net/en/about-us/origins AFRINIC's Mission]</ref>


==Short overview==
Membership is open to any individual or organization that qualifies <ref>[http://afrinic.net/en/about-us/our-members AFRINIC Membership]</ref>. Its policy development process is open to anybody without any specific requirements <ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-14apr05.htm AfriNIC according to ICANN]</ref>. AFRINIC holds open Public Policy Meetings <ref>[http://afrinic.net/en/community/afrinic-events AFRINIC Meetings]</ref> twice a year throughout its service region. One of these meetings usually takes place alongside the Africa Internet Summit (AIS) <ref>[https://internetsummitafrica.org/ Africa Internet Summit]</ref>, an event which AFRINIC co-hosts together with several other African Internet governance organizations (the Af*) <ref>[https://www.internetsummitafrica.org/about/af The Af*]</ref>.
Within the AfriNIc [[Whois]] Database all the information concerning registered resources and domain names can be found. Whether one requires information related to the IP Address, Points of Contact or other such issues, the information is being stored by the AfriNIC. The good news is that all this information and the AfriNIC database is available to the public for transparency purposes, but it is under copyright. <ref>[http://www.afrinic.net/db/index.htm AfriNIC General Information]</ref>


== The creation of AfriNIC==
===ICANN, IANA and AFRINIC ===
AfriNIC started functioning as a registry and information center since November 2010. The CEO  (Chied executive producer) of AfriNIC is Adiel Akplogan. Before the creation of AfriNIC all IP Addresses were part of [[APNIC]] (Asia-Pacific Network Information Center), [[ARIN]] (the American registry) respectively RIPE NCC. The African Network Information Centre (AfriNIC) is a non-governmental and not-for-profit membership based organization. Its main role is to serve as the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for the African region. <ref>[http://icons.apricot.net/display/icons/About+AfriNIC About AfriNIC]</ref>
[[ICANN]] recognized the provisions of AFRINIC in 2004, and the registry began operating in April 2005, when it received the first allocation of numbering resources, IP Addresses and Autonomous System Numbers (ANSs) for Africa. Its accreditation made it the world's 5th [[RIR]], joining [[ARIN]], [[APNIC]], [[RIPE NCC]], and [[LACNIC]]. <ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-14apr05.htm ICANN and AfriNIC]</ref> [[IANA]], through an agreement with [[ICANN]], allocates blocks of number resources to all five [[RIR]]s, which enables effective communication between networks and Internet traffic all around the world.


AfriNIC's mission is: ‘’"To provide professional and efficient distribution of Internet number resources to the African Internet community, to support Internet technology usage and development across the continent and strengthen Internet self-governance in Africa by encouraging a participative policy development."’’ <ref>[http://www.afrinic.net/index.htm AfriNIC Mission]</ref>
IANA has allocated the following [[IPv4]] blocks to AfriNIC: 41/8, 102/8, 105/8 and 197/8;<ref>[http://www.iana.org/assignments/ipv4-address-space/ipv4-address-space.xml IANA IPv4 Assignments]</ref> and the following [[IPv6]] blocks: 2001:4200::/23, 2C00:0000::/12.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/assignments/ipv6-unicast-address-assignments/ipv6-unicast-address-assignments.xml IANA IPv6 Assignments]</ref>


According to [[ICANN]], AfriNIC is a non-government, not-for-profit, membership based organization, located in Mauritius and has the main objective to serve the African Internet community. AfriNIC is the Regional Registry for Internet Number Resources for Africa. Membership is open to anybody following the registration process. Its policy development process is open to anybody without any specific requirements. <ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-14apr05.htm AfriNIC according to ICANN]]</ref>
The 102/8 block which was allocated by IANA on February 3rd of 2011 is the last IPv4 block that will ever be allocated to the registry.<ref>[http://afrinic.net/en/community/ipv4-exhaustion AFRINIC's Last /8]</ref>


===ICANN, IANA and AfriNIC ===
==ICANN Reaches out to Africa==
[[ICANN]] recognized the provisions of AfriNIC since 2004, and this registry became operation starting with April 14 year 2005 when received the first allocation of numbering resources, IP Addresses and Autonomous System Numbers for Africa. Based on various analysis performed, AfriNIC received [[ICANN]]’s recognition in 2005. After AfriNIC joined ARIN, APNIC, RIPE NCC and LACNIC ( Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry), become the 5th RIR (Regional Internet Registry) at international level. <ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-14apr05.htm ICANN and AfriNIC]</ref> [[IANA]] together with [[ICANN]] (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) allocate blocks of number resources to all five RIRs which allow and enable effective communication between networks and enable Internet traffic all around the world.
[[Fadi Chehadé]], expanding on previous CEO [[Rod Beckstrom]]'s work, made reaching out to the international world a major priority, which notably entailed requiring new staff hires to speak 2 languages and personal and staff tours to promote ICANN and its [[New gTLD Program]]. It seemed through the way he talked about the current level of outreach and engagement and the lack of results that he believed that previous efforts were not substantial enough. He noted in his first speech to an ICANN audience, at [[ICANN 44]] in Prague before he took up the CEO position, that he had already met with the African and Latin American delegations and that they were "yearning" to be reached out, which would be a top priority.<ref>[http://www.thedomains.com/2012/06/25/new-icann-ceo-fadi-chehade-impresses-in-opening-session-the-internet-is-the-greatest-public-gift/ New ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade Impresses in Opening Session the Internet is the Greatest Public Gift, TheDomains.com]Published 25 June 2012, Retrieved 11 Jan 2013</ref>


==How to become a member of AfriNIC==
In October, 2012, AFRINIC and ICANN signed an agreement to facilitate the deployment of anycast instances of L Root DNS server, operated by ICANN, in the African region. ICANN, as the operator of the L-Root Server, will work cooperatively with AFRINIC to identify candidate sites within the region of Africa that meets the criteria for the hosting of anycast instances of the L-Root server operated by ICANN. Part of AFRINIC's mission aims to increase the number of DNS root servers instances in the African region as well as its own DNS Anycast platform where AFRINIC hosts its own DNS services but also make it available at no cost for ccTLDs in the region.<ref>[http://www.afrinic.net/en/library/news/press/781-afrinic-and-icann-to-cooperate-further-in-internet-development-in-africa AFRINIC and ICANN to cooperate Further in Internet Development, AFRINIC.net]Published 18 Oct 2012, Retrieved 11 Jan 2013</ref>
In order to request for resources from AfriNIC database, one should first become a member. All new members must submit a specific request template, after reading the policies. The following steps should be followed:
 
# Check whether you are eligible to become an AfriNIC member;
At [[ICANN 45]] in Toronto, a 3 year plan, entitled "ICANN's New Approach to Africa", was unveiled and presented to the community for comment. The plan was created through a working group convened at the previous ICANN meeting, which involved input from much of the African delegation, AFRINIC, and other important contacts knowledgeable about the region.<ref>[http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/initiative-unveiled-to-increase-icann-s-presence-in-africa/129281/ Initiative Unveiled to Increase ICANNs Presence in Africa, ThisDayLive.com] Published 1 Nov 2012, Retrieved 11 Jan 2013</ref>
# Submit the appropriate request template and register using the MyAfriNIC portal;
 
# Agree and sign the RSA (Service agreement);
==Developments==
# The documents must be sent to new-member[at]afrinic.net ;
AFRNIC established its procedures for allocating [[IPv6]] address space in a 2004 document.<ref>[http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2004-v6-001.htm Afrinic Policies]</ref>
# Any future requests will be carefully analyzed and evaluated. <ref>[http://www.afrinic.net/registrationServices.htm AfriNIC Registration services]</ref>
 
AFRINIC has also implemented an [[IPv6]] "test lab" which can be used freely by AFRINIC members who wish to gain first-hand experience or test their IPv6 deployments.<ref>[http://learn.afrinic.net/en/events/book-ipv6-testbed AFRINIC IPv6 Test Bed]</ref>
 
AFRINIC collaborates with [[AfNOG]] in setting dates and places for their annual meetings in order to facilitate convenient meetings for their joint members.<ref>[http://www.afnog.org/afnog2010/ AFNOG]</ref>
 
===Partnership with UniForum SA===
In June 2012, it was announced that [[UniForum SA]] and AFRINIC began a partnership to support training and policy discussions within Africa's tech community. AFRNIC provides training <ref>[http://learn.afrinic.net/en/ AFRINIC's Training Programme]</ref> on topics such as [[cybersecurity]], [[IPv4]] exhaustion, [[IPv6]] deployment, [[Internet Protocol]] and mobility, policy and IP address allocation, and Domain Name System Security Extensions ([[DNSSEC]]). UniForum SA will sponsor four AfriNIC meetings, where public and private sector officials can discuss Internet growth and accessibility policy issues, and the deployment of technologies such as cybersecurity and IPv6, as they affect the African continent.<ref>[http://www.learnthings.co.za/news/46-dot-africa-partners-with-afrinic-to-drive-training-a-policy.html DotAfrica partners with AFRINIC to drive training & policy, learnthings.co.za]</ref>


== References==
== References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


[[Category: Glossary]]
[[Category: Acronym]]
__FORCETOC__

Latest revision as of 19:42, 14 January 2021


General Information
Stakeholder Group: Technical
Type: Regional Internet Registry
Issue Areas: Number Resources
Country: Mauritius
Founded: 2000-2004
Headquarters: 11th Floor Raffles Tower
Cybercity
Ebene, Mauritius
Website: https://afrinic.net
Facebook: Facebook
Twitter: [@afrinic Twitter]
People
Alan P. Barrett, CEO

Christian D. Bope , Board Chair
Seun Ojedeji , Vice Chair

The African Network Information Center (AFRINIC) is the Regional Internet Registry of Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Overview[edit | edit source]

All the information concerning African registered resources and domain names can be found within the AFRINIC Whois database; all this information and the AFRINIC database is available to the public for transparency purposes, but it is under copyright.[1]

Board of Directors[edit | edit source]

Seat Number Name Country Region From Until
Seat 1 Habib Youssef (Vice-Chairman) Tunisia Northern Africa 20 June 2019 June 2022
Seat 2 Emmanuel Adewale Adedokun Nigeria Western Africa 20 June 2019 June 2022
Seat 3 Subramanian Moonesamy (Chair) Mauritius Indian Ocean 18 September 2020 June 2023
Seat 4 Serge Ilunga DRC Congo Central Africa 18 September 2020 June 2023
Seat 5 Vika William Mpisane South Africa Southern Africa 20 June 2019 June 2021
Seat 6 Abdalla Omari Kenya Eastern Africa 18 September 2020 June 2022
Seat 7 Seun Ojedeji Nigeria Non-Regional Africa 20 June 2019 June 2022
Seat 8 Benjamin Eshun Ghana Non-Regional Africa 18 September 2020 June 2023
Seat 9 Eddy Kayihura (Appointed CEO of AFRINIC)[2]

The Creation of AFRINIC[edit | edit source]

The African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) is a non-governmental and not-for-profit membership based organization. Its main role is to serve as the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for the African region. AFRINIC was recognized by ICANN as a functioning regional registry and information centre in 2004. Before the creation of AFRINIC, all IP Addresses were managed by APNIC, ARIN, and RIPE NCC.[3]

AFRINIC's mission is: "To serve the African Community by providing professional and efficient management of Internet number technology usage and development, and promoting Internet self-governance." [4]

Membership is open to any individual or organization that qualifies [5]. Its policy development process is open to anybody without any specific requirements [6]. AFRINIC holds open Public Policy Meetings [7] twice a year throughout its service region. One of these meetings usually takes place alongside the Africa Internet Summit (AIS) [8], an event which AFRINIC co-hosts together with several other African Internet governance organizations (the Af*) [9].

ICANN, IANA and AFRINIC[edit | edit source]

ICANN recognized the provisions of AFRINIC in 2004, and the registry began operating in April 2005, when it received the first allocation of numbering resources, IP Addresses and Autonomous System Numbers (ANSs) for Africa. Its accreditation made it the world's 5th RIR, joining ARIN, APNIC, RIPE NCC, and LACNIC. [10] IANA, through an agreement with ICANN, allocates blocks of number resources to all five RIRs, which enables effective communication between networks and Internet traffic all around the world.

IANA has allocated the following IPv4 blocks to AfriNIC: 41/8, 102/8, 105/8 and 197/8;[11] and the following IPv6 blocks: 2001:4200::/23, 2C00:0000::/12.[12]

The 102/8 block which was allocated by IANA on February 3rd of 2011 is the last IPv4 block that will ever be allocated to the registry.[13]

ICANN Reaches out to Africa[edit | edit source]

Fadi Chehadé, expanding on previous CEO Rod Beckstrom's work, made reaching out to the international world a major priority, which notably entailed requiring new staff hires to speak 2 languages and personal and staff tours to promote ICANN and its New gTLD Program. It seemed through the way he talked about the current level of outreach and engagement and the lack of results that he believed that previous efforts were not substantial enough. He noted in his first speech to an ICANN audience, at ICANN 44 in Prague before he took up the CEO position, that he had already met with the African and Latin American delegations and that they were "yearning" to be reached out, which would be a top priority.[14]

In October, 2012, AFRINIC and ICANN signed an agreement to facilitate the deployment of anycast instances of L Root DNS server, operated by ICANN, in the African region. ICANN, as the operator of the L-Root Server, will work cooperatively with AFRINIC to identify candidate sites within the region of Africa that meets the criteria for the hosting of anycast instances of the L-Root server operated by ICANN. Part of AFRINIC's mission aims to increase the number of DNS root servers instances in the African region as well as its own DNS Anycast platform where AFRINIC hosts its own DNS services but also make it available at no cost for ccTLDs in the region.[15]

At ICANN 45 in Toronto, a 3 year plan, entitled "ICANN's New Approach to Africa", was unveiled and presented to the community for comment. The plan was created through a working group convened at the previous ICANN meeting, which involved input from much of the African delegation, AFRINIC, and other important contacts knowledgeable about the region.[16]

Developments[edit | edit source]

AFRNIC established its procedures for allocating IPv6 address space in a 2004 document.[17]

AFRINIC has also implemented an IPv6 "test lab" which can be used freely by AFRINIC members who wish to gain first-hand experience or test their IPv6 deployments.[18]

AFRINIC collaborates with AfNOG in setting dates and places for their annual meetings in order to facilitate convenient meetings for their joint members.[19]

Partnership with UniForum SA[edit | edit source]

In June 2012, it was announced that UniForum SA and AFRINIC began a partnership to support training and policy discussions within Africa's tech community. AFRNIC provides training [20] on topics such as cybersecurity, IPv4 exhaustion, IPv6 deployment, Internet Protocol and mobility, policy and IP address allocation, and Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC). UniForum SA will sponsor four AfriNIC meetings, where public and private sector officials can discuss Internet growth and accessibility policy issues, and the deployment of technologies such as cybersecurity and IPv6, as they affect the African continent.[21]

References[edit | edit source]