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Guidebook Reference

Member Guidebook Reference

This reference collects the detailed sections of the AFRINIC Member Guidebook — abbreviations, glossary, membership procedures, resource management guides and contact details. For an overview of AFRINIC services with links to the relevant areas of the website, see the Member Guidebook page.

Abbreviations

Abbreviation Meaning
AFRINICAfrican Network Information Centre
AfGWGAFRINIC Government Working Group
AGMMAnnual General Member's Meeting
ASAutonomous System
ASNAutonomous System Number
DNSDomain Name System
DNSSECDomain Name System Security Extensions
IPInternet Protocol
IPv4Internet Protocol version 4
IPv6Internet Protocol version 6
IRRInternet Routing Registry
LIRLocal Internet Registry
PDPPolicy Development Process
RPDResource Policy Discussion
rDNSReverse DNS
RPKIResource Public Key Infrastructure
RIRRegional Internet Registry

Glossary

AFRINIC Government Working Group (AfGWG)

A platform for open and interactive engagements between AFRINIC and African governments and ICT regulators. The vision for the rapid growth of the Internet and its impact on Africa's socio-economic development requires such a platform that African ICT stakeholders work together to formulate, discuss and develop mechanisms and policies for the proper and effective management of Internet resources.

Autonomous System (AS)

The Autonomous System (AS) is a group of IP networks run by one or more network operators with a single, clearly defined external routing policy.

AS Number (ASN)

The Autonomous System Number (ASN) is a globally unique identifier that defines an autonomous system (AS). The ASN allows the autonomous systems to exchange routing information with other autonomous systems. ASNs are available in two formats; 2-byte or 16-bit numbers and 4-byte or 32-bit numbers.

AFRINIC Community

The AFRINIC community refers collectively to any individual or organisation, whether members of AFRINIC or not, that has an interest in the way the Internet is managed, structured or governed.

AFRINIC DNSSEC Service

An AFRINIC DNSSEC service allows the community to validate authoritative DNS data from AFRINIC's RDNS zones and members to publish DS records to build the chain of trust for their RDNS zones.

AFRINIC WHOIS Database or the WHOIS

This is a publicly accessible database containing information about allocations and assignments of IP address space, reverse DNS delegation, Internet routing policies, and related objects in the AFRINIC region.

AFRINIC Helpdesk

This is the first line of assistance available to AFRINIC community and provides support and information related to AFRINIC registry and related services.

AFRINIC mailing lists

These are e-mail exchange platforms managed by AFRINIC and open to anybody who has an interest in the activities of AFRINIC working groups.

AFRINIC member

An AFRINIC member may be any person or legal entity geographically based within, and providing services in the African region, and who is engaged in the use of, or business of providing, open system protocol network services or any other person who is approved by the Board or the members. Membership can be in any of these categories; Registered Members, Resource Members or Associate Members.

AFRINIC Policy

The set of steps by which the Internet Number resources are managed. These are proposals, deliberated by the AFRINIC community and ratified by the Board members.

AFRINIC Policy Development Process (PDP)

This is a bottom-up, open and transparent process, approved by the Internet Community wherein all stakeholders may participate in the creation of policies which would ensure that the Internet Number Resources are distributed and managed in a responsible and fair manner.

AFRINIC service region

This is the geographical area in which AFRINIC operates. This area covers the African mainland and the Indian Ocean region.

AGMM

The annual meeting of the members of the company required to be held under section 115 of the Companies Act 2001.

Deployathon

Deployathon is a technical session usually focussed on a specific protocol or technology, where participants learn about and receive some hands-on assistance while deploying the technology.

Domain Name System (DNS)

This is a hierarchical and distributed database used to translate domain names into IP numbers.

Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)

The is a set of specifications that extend the DNS protocol by adding cryptographic authentication for responses received from authoritative DNS servers.

Hostmaster

These are the IP Number Resource Analysts at AFRINIC that handles and evaluates the IP address requests in accordance with the active policies.

IP

Stands for Internet Protocol, the principal communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking and essentially establishes the Internet.

IP address

This is a numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.

IPv4

Stands for Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) defines an IP address as a 32-bit number consisting of four octets. Each octet is a number between 0 and 255 and separated by dots.

IPv4 depletion

IPv4 address depletion is the total diminishing of the pool of unallocated IPv4 addresses. In the AFRINIC region, this stage was reached once the Softlanding policy, limiting the number of IPv4 resources issued out to a member at one go was activated.

IPv4 exhaustion

IPv4 address exhaustion is the diminishing of the pool of unallocated IPv4 addresses. In the AFRINIC region, this refers to the period between AFRINIC receiving it's last /8 from IANA to the period it's soft-landing policy went live.

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)

Internet Protocol version 6. IPv6 identifies IP numbers as 128-bit addresses in eight 16-bit pieces using hexadecimal values.

Internet Routing Registry (IRR)

The Internet Routing Registry (IRR) is a database of routing policy information for networks both within and outside the AFRINIC region. This routing policy information is stored in the IRR database as defined by the Routing Policy Specification Language (RPSL) standard in RFC2622.

Local Internet Registry (LIR)

A Local Internet Registry is an Internet Registry that receives allocations from an RIR and primarily assigns address space to 'end-users'. LIRs are generally ISPs, mobile operators, hosting and cloud services providers. Their customers may be other service providers and end-users.

Membership Fees

AFRINIC charges its members an annual membership fee in order to support its operations, the fees may change from year to year according to operational costs and financial health of the organization upon validation by the Board of Directors.

Policy Development Process (PDP)

This is the set of steps used to guide the development of Internet Number Resource management policies in the AFRINIC region. There is no specific requirement to participate in the PDP. Anyone can propose and discuss policy proposals irrespective of geographical location, gender and race.

Resource Policy Discussion (RPD)

This is the mailing list used for policy discussions.

Reverse DNS (rDNS)

This is the querying technique of the Domain Name System (DNS) to determine the domain name associated with an IP address. AFRINIC manages and publishes Reverse DNS (RDNS) zone data for the IP space we allocate or assign to members.

Resource Certification (RPKI)

Refers to the certification of Internet number resources so that their registration data can be verified. The process of linking a digital “resource certificate” to an Internet number resource using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) principles. This offers the holder of the resource certificate validated proof that they are the legitimate user of the Internet resources listed on it. Resource certification is based on the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards, as discussed in the Secure Inter-Domain Routing (SIDR) Working Group. The primary goal is to make Internet routing more robust and secure.

Regional Internet Registries (RIRs)

Regional Internet Registries manage and distribute public Internet address space within their respective regions. These were established under the authority and initiatives of the internet communities in their respective regions. Currently, ICANN authorises the establishment of RIRs to serve and represent large geographical regions. Currently, there are five RIRs: APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, RIPE NCC and AFRINIC.

Routing Table

In networking, a routing table or routing information base is a data table stored in a router or a network host that lists the routes to particular network destinations, and in some cases, metrics associated with those routes.

AFRINIC in Brief

The African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa and Indian Ocean region. It is responsible for the distribution and management of Internet number resources such as IP addresses and Autonomous System Numbers (ASN).

Our Vision

A secure and accessible Internet for sustainable digital growth in Africa.

Our Mission

To serve the African Internet community by delivering efficient services in a global multi-stakeholder environment.

Our Core Values

  • Excellence
  • Passion
  • Integrity
  • Community Driven

Internet Number Resources

The core mandate of AFRINIC is to manage Internet number resources (IPv4, IPv6 and ASN) on behalf of our members in our service region.

IPv4

Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) is the fourth version of the Internet Protocol and a widely used protocol in data communication over different kinds of networks with over 4,2 million unique values, considered in this context as a sequence of 256 "/8s". Each "/8" corresponds to more than 16 million unique address values. Over time, and with the rapid growth of the Internet, it has become clear that more addresses would be required to ensure ongoing growth and scalability of the Internet. IPv4 is still used to route most traffic across the Internet.

IPv6

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the Internet's next-generation protocol. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) developed IPv6 as the long-term solution to IPv4 depletion.

The enhancement of IPv6 over IPv4 means that IP addresses are lengthened from 32 bits to 128 bits. This extension foresees considerable future growth of the Internet and reassurance as to what was considered as a shortage of network addresses. IPv6 also supports auto-configuration to help correct most of the shortcomings in version 4. It also has integrated security and mobility features.

ASN

An Autonomous System Number (ASN) is a globally unique identifier that defines a group of one or more IP prefixes run by one or more network operators that maintain a single, clearly-defined routing policy. These groups of IP prefixes are known as autonomous systems. The ASN allows the autonomous systems to exchange routing information with other autonomous systems.

Frequently Asked Questions on Internet Number Resources

What Can You Do with your ASN?

The Autonomous System Number is used to control routing within your network and to exchange routing information with other network operators.

The IP block assigned to your organisation by AFRINIC or your upstream provider can be originated by the ASN which will identify networks or set of networks which appear to the outside world to be running a single consistent routing policy.

What Does IPv4 Exhaustion/Depletion Mean?

IPv4 Exhaustion refers to the time when the pool of available IPv4 addresses in each RIR reaches a threshold where no more general use allocations of IPv4 addresses can be made. In the AFRINIC region, the exhaustion threshold was set through a policy, the AFRINIC community proposed and supported the IPv4 Soft-Landing policy to help manage the address exhaustion of IPv4 in the AFRINIC service region.

The five RIRs (AFRINIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC and RIPE NCC) continue to allocate IPv4 address space to their members in accordance with their community-based regional policies until their pools of available IPv4 addresses are depleted.

A number of questions are often asked.

Will the Internet still work when there are no IPv4 addresses left?

Yes. The Internet will continue to work and the IPv4 addresses already in use will continue to function.

Is it Possible to Have IPv4 and IPv6 Addresses Simultaneously?

Yes. This is referred to as dual-stack. Most of the new operating systems and devices that currently support IPv6 allow the simultaneous use of both protocols. This way, communication with IPv4 only networks as well as IPv6 only networks is possible. It is now becoming imperative that African network operators should start the transition to IPv6 as soon as possible to ensure they can continue communicating with IPv4 and IPv6 networks in other regions.

There will be no additional cost for IPv6 address space if your organisation already holds at least one IPv4 block.

Your Membership

As a new member, we welcome you on board. Here are some of the benefits of your membership:

  • You can request for IP addresses for your operational network or for your downstream customers.
  • You have the possibility to have redundant uplinks to the Internet to maximise uptime with least complexity and also be in control of routing information exchanges with their BGP peers.
  • You can manage your own Internet Routing Registry objects on the AFRINIC database.
  • Get Reverse DNS delegation for your IP addresses.
  • Access to the MyAFRINIC portal to easily manage their IP resources.
  • Accessing the support and expertise of AFRINIC dedicated Staff for your Internet development strategies.
  • You can grow and scale your networks and services without having to depend on Translation protocols or the upstream providers.
  • Vote in Board Elections and elect AFRINIC's Board Members.

Membership Services

AFRINIC offers a wide range of professional services to its members. We work constantly on improving our services to meet members' needs in a fast-changing environment:

  • Distribution and management of IP Numbers Resources (IPv4, IPv6, ASN, reverse DNS)
  • E-Learning Platform
  • Webinars
  • Certi::6
  • AFRINIC Database (WHOIS)
  • Members Portal (MyAFRINIC)
  • Security Tools (RPKI, Internet Routing Registry and DNSSEC)
  • General IP Numbers Statistics
  • AIRRS (African Internet Registry and Routing Statistics)

Personalising and Managing your Membership Account Information

MyAFRINIC is a web-based portal designed for AFRINIC members to manage their contact information, resources, billing and support requests through a simple, user-friendly interface. All AFRINIC members are registered on the member portal as well as the AFRINIC WHOIS Database.

https://my.afrinic.net/login

Please consult the Frequently Asked Questions section and find out more about the steps you need to manage your resources (FAQ).

https://www.afrinic.net/support

Managing your Membership Account Information

Members are encouraged to keep their contact information up-to-date at all times. Information such as a physical address, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses can be updated by simply logging in on the MyAFRINIC portal and editing the information. Any changes made to your organisation's details will subsequently be reflected on MyAFRINIC and WHOIS Database.

Manage Registered Contact Information

Your company details or contact information may become outdated over time. To ensure that you do not miss any important communication from us, a feature has been implemented on the MyAFRINIC member portal (https://my.afrinic.net) to enable you to verify and update your contact and organisation details.

Additionally, to comply with the Registration Services Agreement clauses 2(d) and 2(g) and the Contractual Obligations Check, we encourage you to follow the steps to verify and confirm your contact information.

There are three types of contacts in general - Administrative, Technical and Billing. The rights of each type of contact differ on MyAFRINIC and each registered contact is able to maintain and update a member's details (physical address, e-mail address and telephone number).

Administrative Contact

The administrative contact will have an overview of the member's account on MyAFRINIC.

Technical Contact

The technical contact will be able to manage resources, register assignments, reverse delegations and request for additional IP resources on behalf of the organisation.

Billing Contact

The billing contact will be able to view the billing summary of the organisation, download an invoice as well as pay by credit card using the online payment system available on the portal.

Update/Change in Registered Contacts (MyAFRINIC/WHOIS)

In case of the current contacts leaving your organisation or moving on to new responsibilities within your organisation, AFRINIC recommends that the Member Services Department is notified about this change and details of the new contacts be given so that the contacts for the organisation/resources are updated on the AFRINIC databases.

There are two additional options for submitting a change in registered contacts:

  • You can either fill the Add New Contact Request Form through the MyAFRINIC platform, available under the user administration section.
  • Or, send an e-mail to service-support@afrinic.net to request for the changes.

You are required to provide valid information about the organisation and resource information on the MyAFRINIC portal that will ensure that the publicly available AFRINIC WHOIS Database is also updated with valid information.

Managing Your Internet Number Resources

AFRINIC members have to comply with the ratified policies currently in place whilst managing their IP resources allocated/assigned to them. Members are eligible for additional resources which can be requested through the member's web portal. The requests are evaluated against the current policies and established procedures prior to approval.

AFRINIC members are provided access to manage their IP resources which entail the following:

  • Registration of the IPv4/IPv6 prefix(es) assignment made to their End-Sites and End-User customers, known as assigned PAs
  • Register Reverse Domains for reverse DNS Delegation
  • Create route objects in the AFRINIC Internet Routing Registry
  • Generate BPKI certificates and create Route Origin Authorisations (ROAs) using our RPKI Interface

1. IPv4 Assignments

The LIR members must register the usage of their allocations on the AFRINIC WHOIS database. The registered "ASSIGNED PA" must match the exact IP prefix assigned for a specific purpose or client with a /30 or greater prefix.

In addition, registration of more specific assignments in the AFRINIC WHOIS database will prevent the member's allocation from being blacklisted in case of the member's customers generating spam.

2. Reverse Delegations

Reverse DNS delegations enable AFRINIC to point requests to the correct authoritative name servers for your reverse domain, where applications can fetch the right “ptr” records that map an IP address to a hostname. Each organisation should properly manage its reverse lookup zone.

3. Maintainer Object

A maintainer object is used to secure other objects against unauthorised changes in the AFRINIC WHOIS database and IRR. It specifies authentication information required to authorise the creation, updates or deletion of certain objects in the database.

The maintainer is created upon resource issuance and members are advised to generate a hash value (BCRYPT) of their plain text password. Only the hash value should be shared with AFRINIC and the members should securely keep their plain text password. The organisation's maintainer must be used as the mnt-by attribute for CRUD whilst providing the associated authorisation method.

4. Route Objects

Route objects and other routing information can only be created in an Internet Routing Registry (IRR). The AFRINIC IRR acts as part of the global IRR system that consists of several other databases where network operators publish their routing policies and announcements in order for other interested network operators to use that data, for ease of interconnecting and working together. There are other IRRs, including ARIN, APNIC, RIPE, RADB and many others.

http://afrinic.net/en/services/afrinic-irr

5. Requesting Additional IP Prefix Allocation

Any request for additional allocation or assignments of IP addresses must adhere to the following: Your organisation must be compliant to Contractual Obligations Check (CoC).

http://bit.ly/contractual-obligations-check

The checks are:

  1. Request/ticket should always originate from a Registered contact
  2. Resource Member has a signed RSA with AFRINIC on file
  3. Resource Member's account is in Good Standing

http://bit.ly/good-standing

A member should be compliant with all of the above-mentioned checks in order to receive support for services and meet the below requirements to get the resources request from AFRINIC.

  • If a resource member is requesting an additional IPv4 prefix, it must account for at least 90% of the entire allocation.
  • Ensure that the allocated or assigned prefixes are well registered in AFRINIC WHOIS database.
  • Request for the additional prefix from the MyAFRINIC portal under the Resources tab.

Membership Renewal, Billing and Fees

1. Membership Renewal

AFRINIC membership is renewed annually and the period covered is the calendar year.

2. Billing

Invoices are issued at the beginning of November preceding the membership period. Invoices are sent by email to all members and at the same time a copy is posted on the members account on our portal http://my.afrinic.net

You can access your account using the login and password provided by AFRINIC and may download a copy of their invoice.

3. Payment

Payment of membership fees must be effected in US dollars or Euro and in full as reflected in the invoice. All local taxes and any local bank charges are the responsibility of the member. Members are strongly advised to quote the invoice reference and the organisation name on the bank instruction form to help AFRINIC trace the funds transfer and match your payment against your invoice.

AFRINIC accepts payment made either through:

Wire Transfer directly into AFRINIC bank account as per details on the invoice; or Credit Card payment via our members portal my.afrinic.net. Credit card payments are currently in US dollars only.

A special Early Settlement discount of 5% will be offered to organizations whose Annual Membership fee renewal payments are received by AFRINIC prior to the invoice date.

At the same time, a late payment penalty is levied on all invoices which are unpaid after the due date of 31st January and 28-days moratorium is given for fees settlement. After that period, a late payment penalty of 5% will be applied. An additional 10% late payment penalty will further be applied if membership fees are not received by AFRINIC by the end of March. These percentages are applied to all unpaid fees as at 31st January of the year.

Up to three (3) reminders are sent to unpaid members. Should fees still remain unsettled three months after the due date, AFRINIC will initiate the Resources Reclamation Process. At this point, the Registration Service Agreement is nullified and all IP resources and services are withdrawn from members.

4. AFRINIC's Special Fee Schedule

For Academic and Research Institutions

AFRINIC gives a 50% discount to all organisations which can demonstrate that they are official academic or research institutions in their countries. They should also demonstrate that the assigned/allocated resources are used exclusively for not-for-profit academic or research activities. The discount is also applicable to universities that are active members of the Association of African Universities (AAU) and are in good financial standing with the association.

For Critical Infrastructure

Any Critical Infrastructure applying for membership with AFRINIC will receive an ASN, a /24 IPv4 address space and a /48 IPv6 address space free of charge for IXP purposes unless there is evidence of commercial activity.

For further references, please consult the following on the AFRINIC website:

  • The signed Registration Services Agreement (RSA)
  • AFRINIC Billing cycle
  • AFRINIC Membership fees

Capacity Building

Our Capacity Building

Since our establishment in 2005, AFRINIC has been engaged in a wide-scale programme to raise awareness and build capacity in Africa. With the support of various stakeholders in the community, AFRINIC has been providing on-site training on Internet Number Resources Management and Foundational IPv6 for Engineers in various countries across the continent.

E-learning

Since 2018, AFRINIC has shifted its capacity-building focus from on-site training to online training. We now offer a wide range of courses that can be accessed from our e-learning platform here: academy.afrinic.net

https://learn.afrinic.net/elearning

The courses of the AFRINIC e-Academy targets network engineers and include among others courses such as: Create the Perfect IPv6 Address Plan, Provision IPv6 Configuration, Configure Basic IPv6, Implement IPv6 Routing, IPv6 Foundations and Mastering Neighbour Discovery Protocol (NDP).

IPv6 Deployment Support

https://learn.afrinic.net/deploy

Deployment Operational (DO) Helpdesk Support and Deployathons

Our capacity building moreover focuses on IPv6 deployment support through two major approaches: Deployment Operational (DO) Helpdesk Support and Deployathons. In 2020, AFRINIC introduced a fully online version for the e-Deployathon.

Webinars

The AFRINIC Capacity Building Team holds webinar sessions on various technologies. The webinars are focused on technologies such as IPv6, Internet Infrastructure design, Internet performance, security and scalability. You can find more information and our previous webinars here:

https://learn.afrinic.net/webinars

IPv6 Certification - Certi::6

certi::6 (pronounced "certi-six") is a multi-tiered program of written exams created by AFRINIC Ltd under the IPv6 Forum certification program. It validates the knowledge and skill required to plan, design, configure, manage and troubleshoot multi-vendor IPv6 networks. More information on the programme can be accessed here:

https://certi6.io

Stakeholder Engagement and Community Support

Cooperation Development

AFRINIC collaborates with a wide range of organisations with which we work in various ways. These include technical coordination organisations, government organisations and institutions, regulators, law enforcement groups, and academic institutions among others.

We engage and partner with organisations in our attempt to help Africa embrace technologies necessary for the continent's social and economic development and advancement in a networked, globalised world.

To enter into cooperation or partnership, AFRINIC has signed memoranda of understanding with several organisations. In some cases, AFRINIC joins the membership of some organisations in which it contributes to on matters relevant to us and the African Internet community.

Community Development

As a non-profit and community-based organisation, AFRINIC's seeks to engage with its community to build effective and sustainable relationships with groups in its community. These include regional and local technical organisations, government organisations and institutions, regulators, law enforcement groups, academic institutions, civil society organisations, Internet governance organisations among others. We often work together as long-term partners on a range of policies, Internet governance, and capacity building initiatives among others.

AFRINIC reaches out the African Internet community through diverse initiatives, which address the Internet development challenges faced by the technical and non-technical community, decision-makers and Internet users.

Above all, when AFRINIC can bring its community's groups together to engage in dialogue about a topic or a challenge, AFRINIC seeks to create something truly valuable, a place where they can find information and get advice from AFRINIC's entire sphere of influence.

Over the years, AFRINIC has been supporting its community through impactful programmes, among them:

Government Engagement

The AFRINIC Government Working Group (AfGWG) was set up in January 2010 to provide a platform for open and interactive engagements between AFRINIC and African governments, and ICT regulators. The vision was born out the idea that the rapid growth of the Internet and its impact on Africa's socio-economic development required that African ICT stakeholders work together to formulate, discuss and develop mechanisms and policies for the proper and effective management of Internet resources.

https://afrinic.net/committees/afgwg

The AFRINIC Fellowship Programme

AFRINIC offers fellowships to our meetings. The fellowship is reserved for individuals, from small organisations, universities and media, who are actively involved in Internet operations and development or ICT policy in their countries and respective communities.

Fellows are expected to positively and actively contribute to IP address management awareness in the AFRINIC service region.

The fellowship includes:

  • Assistance with round-trip airfare to the meeting venue
  • Hotel accommodation for the AFRINIC Plenary event

https://afrinic.net/events/fellowship

Our Meetings

Each year, AFRINIC holds two important meetings during which stakeholders from around Africa and the Indian Ocean and from other parts of the world congregate to deliberate on issues relating to Internet access, use and impact.

AFRINIC meetings offer an important platform and channel through which people share experiences, best practices, and discuss issues that affect not only the Internet community in Africa but around the world.

So far, AFRINIC has held meetings in different parts of Africa, covering regions from West to East to North to South to the Indian Ocean.

Beginning in 2012, the joint AfNOG/AFRINIC Meeting became known as the Africa Internet Summit (AIS). The first Africa Internet Summit was held in Serrekunda, The Gambia, in May 2012.

Africa Internet Summit (AIS)

The brainchild of AFRINIC, the Regional Internet Registry for Africa, and the African Network Operators' Group (AfNOG), the Africa Internet Summit is the premier multi-stakeholder event combining conference, training and networking for the Internet industry.

The AIS is focused on popular and emerging ICT industries such as mobile telephony and its impact around the world. The AIS addresses the current and future needs of operators from the ICT industry.

While the Internet remains at the centre of the discussions, workshops and various meetings, the event also deals with other important matters relating to emerging technologies, particularly mobile telephony, their use, and how they can contribute to both social and economic development in Africa. It goes beyond core IP engineering to integrate the real-world use and impact of IP technologies.

The AIS includes sessions that cover business and technical aspects of the Internet: Policy, content and names, Internet numbers, research, infrastructure, capacity building, and security.

The AIS hosts training workshops and tutorials, presentations, panel discussions, and multi-stakeholder roundtables focusing on numerous technology and related issues.

The meeting brings together experts from different sectors, both public and private, ICT Industry leaders and technical experts including Internet Service Providers (ISP), government, regulators, academia, business, civil society among others. It is also a place for internationally renowned speakers to share knowledge and experiences on technology developments, changes, uses and effects.

Policy Development Process (PDP)

The operations of AFRINIC are governed by a range of policies developed by the community. The management and distribution of Internet resources are done as per well-defined policies. Policies provide the guidelines determining the allocation, usage and management of the critical Internet number resources.

Why Do We Need Policies?

Internet number resources such as IP addresses and Autonomous System Numbers (ASN) are important public resources which are vital for the continued growth and stability of the Internet.

These resources are neither owned by address users nor are they a commodity that can be bought, sold or traded. It is thus important that they are managed and distributed in a responsible and fair manner, and the policies are the vehicles through which these objectives are delivered.

Who Develops Policies?

Policies can be proposed by anyone from the community, including AFRINIC members. The Internet community develops and agrees on all AFRINIC policies. However, just as the Internet develops, policies must evolve to suit changes in the industry. A key role of AFRINIC, as well as other RIRs, is to provide a forum at which members of the Internet community can discuss changes in the Internet and create policies to drive the developments.

Get Involved in the PDP

The Internet needs to be managed responsibly through the bottom-up policy development approach. It is your duty to get involved and make decisions that suit your needs, to ensure that each organisation and the African region, in general, have a chance to voice their opinions, and learn and share experiences.

How to Get Involved in PDP

Subscribe to and participate in the policy development mailing list discussions (rpd@afrinic.net).

Please click here to join the rpd mailing list: https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rpd

Attend the bi-annual AFRINIC public policy meetings, either in person or through remote participation.

Principles of PDP

AFRINIC's Policy Development Process is consensus-based and is:

  • Open — Anyone interested can get involved, propose and discuss policies. No accreditation is needed. It is inclusive, accessible and participatory.
  • Transparent — Meeting notes, presentations and discussions are publicly accessible. Everything is documented and published.
  • Bottom-up — The Internet Community drives policy development i.e. proposes, discusses and approves policy.

The PDP cycle: Discuss → Consensus → Implement → Evaluate.

Keeping in Touch

AFRINIC manages several mailing lists that are open to anybody who has an interest in the activities of AFRINIC working groups. Here is a listing of all the public mailing lists. Click on a list name to get more information about the list, or to subscribe, unsubscribe, and change the preferences on your subscription.

Description List Archives
Internet community in Africa and more precisely those involved or willing to be involved in the ICANN processesAfrICANNAfrICANN Archives
AFRINIC Announceannounceannounce Archives
IPv6 in Africaafripv6-discussafripv6-discuss Archives
Resource Policy Discussion Listrpdrpd Archives
AFRINIC Training Feedbacktraining-discusstraining-discuss Archives
Discussion on spamming issues in Africaanti-spamanti-spam archives
Comments about AFRINIC Servicesservicesservices archives
Spam in AfricaAfrispam-wgAfrispam-wg archives
Telcom working Groupafritelco-wgafritelco-wg archives
AFRINIC RPKI discussionrpki-discussrpki-discussions
Members DiscussMembers-discussMembers-discuss archives

How to Subscribe to the Mailing List?

There are two ways:

  1. Filling the online form which can be obtained by clicking the different lists below.
  2. By email: you can send a request to list_name-request@afrinic.net, with the word subscribe in the subject field. For example, to subscribe to the announce mailing list, send email to announce-request@afrinic.net

Contacts

Members may report any issue to AFRINIC using the e-mail addresses in the table. The preferred and most efficient method of reporting a problem is through emails. Once contacted, AFRINIC staff will also respond by email.

Opening hours: Our office is open from 09:00 am to 5:30 pm (UTC + 4), Monday to Friday, except on public holidays (and during instances of extreme weather conditions like cyclones).

Key Contact Details for service support and any service-related queries:

Issue Email Contact Type of Query
Generalcontact@afrinic.netAny general inquiry
Billingbilling@afrinic.netAny queries related to invoice and payment
New Membernew-member@afrinic.netQueries /clarifications regarding how to become an AFRINIC member
Trainingtraining@afrinic.netAny queries related to AFRINIC training
WHOIS DBafrinic-dbm@afrinic.netQueries related to the whois database, errors concerning whois objects creation/update
Hostmasterhostmaster@afrinic.netAdditional resources, any general queries related to resources management
Account Informationservice-support@afrinic.netAny queries related to your account information, MyAFRINIC or BPKI
Routing Registryirr@afrinic.netAny queries related to the AFRINIC Internet Routing Registry

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