• Mauritian court decisions underline AFRINIC’s governance failures and legal entanglements.
  • Stakeholders call for a complete reset to protect Africa’s internet infrastructure and IP resource autonomy.

Court rulings expose deepening instability

Mauritian court rulings have again put AFRINIC, the African Network Information Centre, under the spotlight, with decisions revealing how its governance and operational failures have deepened over the years. This latest legal outcome is part of a long-running dispute that has pitted AFRINIC against its own members, most notably Cloud Innovation – its third-largest member – in battles over the future of Africa’s IP address resources.

In June 2025, AFRINIC annulled its board election over an unverified proxy dispute, discarding valid votes and raising doubts about whether democratic elections remain possible under its current framework. Observers note that these decisions, combined with ongoing litigation, signal a registry in collapse. Critics argue that AFRINIC’s inability to meet workable election standards has eroded trust among network operators and left Africa’s IP management in limbo.

Also read: Cloud Innovation calls for AFRINIC wind-up after ‘impossible’ election standards
Also read: EXPOSED: The letter that reveals who was really benefitting from AFRINIC’s lawsuits

The battle for Africa’s digital future

The stakes extend far beyond AFRINIC’s headquarters in Mauritius. The registry’s collapse threatens the stability of Africa’s internet infrastructure, jeopardising connectivity, growth, and digital sovereignty. Critics say ICANN’s role in this crisis has been far from neutral. Its recent policy moves – including the adoption of an ICP-2 compliance mechanism – give it unprecedented power to derecognise regional internet registries, sparking concerns of a quiet power grab that could override Africa’s bottom-up governance model.

Cloud Innovation has called for AFRINIC’s immediate dissolution and for ICANN and the NRO to appoint an existing RIR to take over Africa’s IP address management. Supporters of this approach see it as a necessary reset to restore accountability and trust, while opponents fear it could hand too much control to external entities. Either way, the outcome will set a precedent for how global internet governance interacts with regional autonomy – and whether Africa can retain control over its own digital future.