- An election scheduled for June 2025 was annulled after credible reports of fraudulent proxy votes and procedural failures.
- A member company initiated legal action seeking to liquidate AFRINIC, arguing the organisation’s governance has become irrecoverable.
A governance model unchecked
At its core, AFRINIC’s leadership model has allowed significant centralisation of power. The board, and until recently the chief executive, wield control not just over policy but over resources, staff and member processes. While this might appear efficient, it creates structural vulnerability: when oversight is weak, those in charge face little challenge. The recent June 2025 election flashpoint illustrates precisely how that vulnerability is exploited. Under heightened scrutiny, AFRINIC’s election allowed unlimited proxies despite bylaws limiting them—one proxy-holder appeared with more than 800 powers of attorney.
Also Read: ICANN and AFRINIC: A partnership or a power play?
Courts, litigation and legitimacy collapse
The internal governance failure has spilled into the courts. After six million IP addresses were assigned to a member brokers only for AFRINIC to attempt reclamation, litigation froze the registry’s operations. AFRINIC lacks a functioning board or CEO and remains under receivership in Mauritius. These conditions feed a cycle—deficit of oversight, than exploitation, finally more instability.
Also Read: Women and representation in AFRINIC elections: Closing the governance gap
Why this matters to Africa
AFRINIC controls the allocation of critical internet numbering resources across Africa and the Indian Ocean region—without its trustworthiness intact, connectivity, investment and digital sovereignty all hang in the balance. The governance model that allowed the registry to drift into regime-like management must change. Otherwise, the very foundation of bottom-up internet governance on the continent may erode.
Unless AFRINIC rewrites its leadership template—reinstating transparency, limiting proxies, dispersing power—the shift from “registry” to “regime” risk is complete.
