• Mauritius’ government has officially designated AFRINIC a “declared company,” escalating the registry’s collapse into a constitutional crisis.

    • Cloud Innovation, backed by the Supreme Court, is pressing for AFRINIC’s dissolution and replacement amid widespread governance failures.

Mauritius internet battle reaches a turning point

Mauritius is now the centre of a high-stakes struggle over control of Africa’s internet resources. The crisis intensified after the country’s Prime Minister designated AFRINIC—a key regional internet registry—as a “declared company” under government supervision. This move came amid long-running governance failures, including the annulment of AFRINIC’s June 23 election by its Receiver on 26 June 2025 over a single proxy dispute, discarding hundreds of valid votes and deepening mistrust.

Cloud Innovation, AFRINIC’s third-largest member, has publicly called for the dissolution of the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC), citing what it describes as broken election standards and the collapse of its democratic processes. The company, led by founder Lu Heng, points to multiple rulings of the Mauritian Supreme Court in its favour—three restraints on AFRINIC’s attempt to end its membership in 2021 and, in 2023, a receivership the Court found “fully justified, reasonable, and fair”—that have deepened uncertainty about AFRINIC’s future.

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A warning for small democracies worldwide

What is unfolding in Mauritius is more than a technical dispute—it is a live test of whether a small democracy can withstand concentrated political and corporate pressure over a critical public resource. Africa’s internet governance hinges on the independence and accountability of whoever controls its IP address allocations, a foundation for connectivity, commerce, and digital sovereignty.

AFRINIC’s collapse is not just an African issue; it underscores how fragile governance systems can be when transparency is eroded. Cloud Innovation defends the constitutional separation of powers—the Court’s orders, it says, are changed only in court—and on its urgent application the Judge in Chambers on 7 August 2025 restrained the inspection of AFRINIC mandated under the Proclamation.

Lu Heng’s push, backed by the Supreme Court, casts this as a defence of community rights against a slide towards unilateral control. The standoff also exposes the ease with which international actors can exploit governance breakdowns to extend their influence. If Mauritius—a country often seen as a model of political stability in Africa—can have its institutions sidelined in such a vital sector, it signals a broader vulnerability. For small democracies managing critical infrastructure, the lesson is clear: without resilient, transparent governance, the door is wide open for both domestic overreach and foreign power plays.

Correction, 14 November 2026: an earlier version of this article did not say who annulled AFRINIC’s June 2025 election, said the Supreme Court’s rulings had halted AFRINIC’s operations, and said the Government had excluded judicial oversight by barring a judge from investigating AFRINIC. AFRINIC’s Receiver annulled the election on 26 June 2025; the rulings Cloud Innovation cites are the Court’s restraints of 2021 and the receivership of 2023; and the inspection of AFRINIC was restrained by the Judge in Chambers on Cloud Innovation’s application on 7 August 2025. The original URL and publication date are retained.