Reinforcing Call for Fair AFRINIC Board Elections, Court Requires Receiver to make a Communique to Members
LOS ANGELES - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) filed an application with the Supreme Court of Mauritius (Bankruptcy Division) and obtained successful rulings on two of its demands of the Court Appointed Receiver over the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC). This application was submitted to advance ICANN’s commitment to AFRINIC holding a swift, fair, and transparent election process to help restore stability and trust to AFRINIC’s governance, according to the official website of ICANN.
This follows ICANN’s June 6, 2025, notice to the Court Appointed Receiver over AFRINIC. As previously announced, ICANN’s notice focused on the fairness and transparency of the upcoming AFRNIC Board of Directors elections, and specifically demanded that the Receiver take immediate action to:
• Provide AFRINIC members with complete transparency on the status of Resource Members in light of the entry of a member on the Mauritius Corporate and Business Registration Department record.
• Reconstitute the Nomination Committee for its remaining tasks.
• Provide public documentation and assessment of remedial steps needed to alleviate the adverse impacts caused on the election.
In the months prior to issuing the 6 June notice, ICANN made efforts to obtain corrections from the Receiver, including a call in mid-May 2025 where ICANN stressed the importance of transparency with AFRINIC members. The Receiver has long been aware of ICANN’s concerns about the AFRINIC election process. The Receiver took minimal action toward the demands made by ICANN, and without transparency to the AFRINIC members. Because of the lack of meaningful response to ICANN’s previous requests and notice, on 18 June 2025 ICANN sought the intervention of the Mauritius Courts to order further action by the Receiver.
The Supreme Court chose to act on ICANN’s application because it recognized the importance of the matter: Although the court stated that ICANN has “no locus standi” to enter the application, the Court recognized the “objective and aim is to ensure that there is to be a fair and free election for the board of AFRINIC” and that “ICANN’s “principal [sic] objective is to ensure that the global internet remains secure, stable and operative.” The Court recognized that “AfriNIC is also a non-profit organization, member-based and is a regional internet registry which is responsible for the distribution of internet number resources for Africa and the Indian Ocean region."
To support a fair and free election, the Court ruled in ICANN’s favor regarding the improper classification of Cloud Innovation Ltd, which “is simply a resource member”, ordering the receiver to ”issue a communique to (i) inform all resource members of the erroneous registration of Cloud Innovation Ltd as a registered member of AfriNIC Ltd.
AfrNIC Ltd is a company limited by guarantee, registered at the Registrar of Companies. As at date, needful has been done by the receiver to remove the name of Cloud Innovation Ltd as a registered member of Afrinic Ltd at the Registrar of Companies; and (ii) inform all resource members how the Nom Com has been set up in the spirit of the bylaws in the absence of a board at AFRINIC.”
On June 19, 2025, the Receiver published a seven-page Communiqué “in line with the Court Order”. Only two pages, buried within the document, address the issues ordered by the Court.
ICANN remains concerned about the overall integrity of the election process. ICANN is entrusted with ensuring the stable and secure operation of the Internet’s unique identifier systems and is responsible for the global coordination of the allocation and assignment of numbering resources. ICANN recognized AFRINIC as the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for the African/Indian Ocean region and, as such, is responsible for confirming that RIRs maintain the obligations of an RIR. ICANN would like to ensure that the resources allocated to this region are properly accounted for and are used to the benefit of this region.
ICANN continues to pay close attention to AFRINIC’s ability to maintain its obligations as an RIR. We urge all AFRINIC members to do the same, and to report to the Receiver, the AFRINIC Nomination Committee and Election Committee, and ICANN any perceived lack of fairness or transparency in the election process.
ICANN is entrusted with ensuring that the Internet’s unique identifier systems are stable, secure, and resilient (SSR), resulting in a globally interoperable Internet for users all over the world. ICANN also is responsible for the global coordination of the allocation and assignment of numbering resources. Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) support this role by distributing, managing, and registering Internet number resources. AFRINIC is one of five RIRs recognized by ICANN.