AFRINIC’s transferred /20 has two source-named children

AFRINIC Moved the /20. Its Two Child Records Still Name the Source.

Why it matters

The February transfer and the current RDAP hierarchy agree on the parent. Ask for a single address and a different name appears.

Theo March2 November 2026Reading Time 2 minLast update: 2 November 2026

AFRINIC’s transferred /20 parent allocation names the recipient; its two current /21 child assignments name the source.

Summary

An AFRINIC M&A transfer dated 19 February 2026 sends three IPv4 ranges totalling 16,384 addresses and AS36877 from Africa Online Operations (Mauritius) Limited to Africa Online (Africa) (Pty) Ltd.
For 41.198.16.0/20, the current RDAP parent allocation names the recipient. Two ASSIGNED PA /21 children cover that entire parent and still name the transfer source.

Ask AFRINIC who holds 41.198.16.0/20, and the registry gives one name. Ask who appears at 41.198.16.0, and it gives another. Both answers come from the same RDAP service, on different levels of the registration tree. That small change in query is the story inside a February resource transfer.

The AFRINIC transfer file records a MERGER_ACQUISITION on 19 February 2026 from Africa Online Operations (Mauritius) Limited to Africa Online (Africa) (Pty) Ltd. Three IPv4 ranges move in the row: 41.198.32.041.198.63.255 holds 8,192 addresses, 41.198.16.041.198.31.255 holds 4,096, and 196.47.64.0196.47.79.255 holds 4,096. Together that is 16,384 IPv4 addresses. AS36877 moves in the same row. The file lists no IPv6 range for this event.

The explicit /20 RDAP response for the middle range says ALLOCATED PA and identifies the recipient, Africa Online (Africa) (Pty) Ltd. Yet the bare first-address query resolves to 41.198.16.041.198.23.255, an ASSIGNED PA /21 naming the source organization. The other half, 41.198.24.041.198.31.255, is another ASSIGNED PA /21 with the same source name. Each child’s parentHandle points to the recipient-named /20. Two children of 2,048 addresses exactly fill the 4,096-address parent.

The AS36877 RDAP entry also names the recipient. The transfer row, parent allocation and ASN form one consistent level of the public record; the two more-specific child assignments preserve the source name at another level. AFRINIC's public records give no reason for that child naming. A changed child entry or a registry explanation would settle what the assignment labels are intended to convey.