• The July 2021 ruling halted AFRINIC’s attempt to expel Cloud Innovation and froze its accounts, revealing deep governance failure.
• Now in receivership and facing annulled elections and widespread distrust, some see dissolution and replacement as the only viable path forward.
The Supreme Court ruling that exposed AFRINIC’s failure
In July 2021, the Supreme Court of Mauritius ruled decisively in favour of Cloud Innovation Ltd, blocking AFRINIC’s attempt to terminate the company’s membership and restoring Cloud Innovation’s access to millions of IP addresses. Simultaneously, the Court ordered that AFRINIC’s bank accounts be frozen—effectively paralyzing operations. AFRINIC only regained control of its financial assets in October 2021, while Cloud Innovation retained access to address blocks immediately after the ruling. This judgement laid bare AFRINIC’s governance crisis and triggered downstream effects rooted in institutional breakdown.
Also read: EXPOSED: The letter that reveals who was really benefitting from AFRINIC’s lawsuits
Also read: Mauritian judge barred from investigating AFRINIC amid pre-election turmoil
Governance already in crisis—Court control takes over
AFRINIC’s governance collapsed entirely following Cloud Innovation’s mounting legal pressure. The Supreme Court dissolved its board in 2022, placing the organisation under court-appointed receivership—first with Vasoodayven Virasami and later Gowtamsingh Dabee—tasked with administering operations and organising elections under severe constraints. By mid-2025, ICANN and the NRO openly questioned AFRINIC’s viability, warning that its dysfunction jeopardised African internet infrastructure and could lead to derecognition.
The election that collapsed governance further
A court-sanctioned board election scheduled for 18–23 June 2025—heralded as an opportunity to end the leadership vacuum—collapsed disastrously. One controversial proxy vote sufficed to annul the entire process, erasing hundreds of valid votes and extinguishing trust in governance. This unworkable standard revealed AFRINIC’s irreparable governance breakdown. The situation has prompted Cloud Innovation to call explicitly for AFRINIC’s dissolution and for ICANN and the NRO to appoint a new registry immediately, arguing that only such a reset can safeguard African IP resource management.
Cloud innovation’s push for a reset—and the wider implications
Cloud Innovation, AFRINIC’s third-largest member, now leads the charge for a full institutional reset, labelling its dissolution a “necessary reset” and calling on ICANN and the NRO to “immediately appoint a new RIR” for the region. ICANN, though cautioning that addresses should not be privatised, signalled readiness to invoke ICP-2 compliance to facilitate an orderly handover if AFRINIC is dissolved. Yet, can replacing AFRINIC preserve continuity while respecting bottom-up governance principles? Or does this shift simply exchange one flawed model for another under external control?
The road ahead for African internet governance
The Supreme Court’s interventions have kept AFRINIC operational in name only, while its credibility and functionality continue to erode. With ICANN attempting to increase its influence and Cloud Innovation pressing for immediate change, the region faces a pivotal decision: cling to a registry many view as irreparably broken, or transition to a new governance structure that risks inviting external dominance. The stakes are high—not just for technical coordination, but for Africa’s long-term control over its digital future.
