On 2 October 2017 a revised RSA was published for public comments. The comment period ended on 30 October 2017.

We have prepared a table summarising the comments and staff responses to the comments, as well as a revised version of the RSA.

We have also identified a risk that, if a requested transfer is denied for some reason, AFRINIC may be sued by either the source or recipient or both. We have prepared a Transfer Agreement which source and recipient will sign to protect AFRINIC from that risk.

Comments on these documents are welcome for one week, until 10 November 2017 here 

Here are the relevant documents:

• Previous call for comments
• Summary of comments and responses
• Revised draft RSA dated 31 October 2017, showing changes from previous version of RSA dated January 2016
• Document showing changes from the draft RSA dated 30 September 2017 to the revised draft dated 31 October 2017
• Draft Transfer Agreement dated 1 November 2017

Alan Barrett

CEO, AFRINIC

Ebene, Mauritius, 10^th August 2017: Lagos will in November host hundreds of key players in the African and global Internet industry sector at the 27^th public policy meeting of the African Network Information Center (AFRINIC). The event dubbed AFRINIC 27 will be a platform for technocrats and business to discuss policies, trends, resources and challenges in growing Internet for sustainable development in Africa and the Indian Ocean Region. It is being hosted by AFRINIC in collaboration with the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA).

The event, which is held annually, consists of keynote speeches, policy discussions, seminars, workshops, tutorials and other forums for sharing ICT knowledge within the African region. The 2016 edition was held in Mauritius and was attended by over 250 delegates from 48 countries around the world. Registration for the event is on going through the meeting website http://bit.ly/2vdgM3P.  

Whereas Internet penetration in Africa has grown from 11% to 28.6% in just 5 years despite challenges such as cyber security, it is lower when compared to the rest of the world. Measurable parameters such IP address allocations show that the continent is quite behind. In April 2017, AFRINIC entered the depletion phase of fourth version of IP Addresses (IPv4) way behind of the other four continental regional Internet registries who are already distributing the newest version IPv6 in earnest. Please read the event concept note at http://bit.ly/2uylwiv.

Please read the detailed press release  

7 August 2017 - We are pleased to inform you that registration is now open for the AFRINIC-27 Meeting, being held in Lagos Nigeria, from 27 November to 2 December 2017.

You can register online at: https://meeting.afrinic.net/afrinic-27/?option=com_afmeeting&view=login

Updates and News

You can stay informed with updates and the latest news about AFRINIC-27 via our discussion lists, the AFRINIC-27 meeting website (https://meeting.afrinic.net/afrinic-27/) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/afrinic) and on Twitter (http://twitter.com/afrinic). We are using the hashtags #AFRINIC27, #Lagos, #Nigeria.

Visas

We strongly advise that you start your travel and visa procedures for Nigeria as from now. For more information about travel and visas please see: https://meeting.afrinic.net/afrinic-27/attend/travel-kit

We look forward to seeing you in Nigeria!

AFRINIC CEO Alan Barrett and AFRALO Chair Abdelaziz Hilali signing the MoU

Ebene, Mauritius 28^th June 2017: AFRINIC has signed an MoU with ICANN’s African Regional At-Large Organization (AFRALO) in which both organizations commit to continue working together towards improving Internet development throughout the region. The MoU was signed by AFRINIC CEO Alan Barrett and AFRALO Chair Abdelaziz Hilali at the sidelines of ICANN59 being held in Johannesburg.

In the MoU, AFRINIC and AFRALO agree to continue conducting capacity building events, create awareness and promote regional and global participation for Africa’s Internet stakeholders on matters Internet development.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, AFRINIC CEO lauded the ongoing collaboration between AFRINIC and AFRALO saying that it has provided a broader platform for advancing the case for Internet and development in Africa.

“As our communities and focus areas overlap considerably, it is in our mutual interests to come together to create and share awareness and encourage participation in African and global Internet governance matters,” Mr. Barrett noted.

AFRINIC and AFRALO have collaborated since 2013, when the first MoU was signed. This new MoU will build upon the strong foundations already in place, continuing the commitment to work together and combining efforts for the benefit of the AFRINIC community and the AFRALO At-Large community.

On 1st June 2017, the Board took the following decision with regards to LIR Membership fees and penalties.

1. Invoice all members in the first week of November of the preceding Year
2. The invoice will be dated 1st January of the New Year, but will be due for payment by 31st January of the new year. That is 30 days to process and pay the invoice.
3. The company will give another 28 days moratorium, past the due date, where no penalty will be applied, i.e 28th Feb, giving 60 days to process the invoice and pay it without incurring any penalty.
4. If the invoice is paid on or before 31st March, a penalty of 5% is noted.
5. If the invoice is then paid on or before 30th April, a penalty of 10% is noted
6. If the invoice is then paid on or before 31st May, a penalty of 15% if noted
7. Up to this point, no penalty invoice will be invoiced to the members, so they remain in good standing if they have paid the invoice for the year, even if they have not paid the penalty, so they can vote at the AGMM without any restraint.
8. All penalty invoices are invoiced by 30th June, giving members up to 5 months to pay the penalties.
9. Unpaid penalties by the next billing cycle in November, will be added to the invoice of the next year. However, note that this will count towards any resource requests that expects members to be in good standing.

The billing timeline can be read at https://preview.afrinic.net/membership-cost

31 January 2016 - The AFRINIC Board is required to appoint a Nomination Committee (NomCom) every year.  I hereby call for volunteers from the community to fill three open positions on the 2017 NomCom.

If you are interested in serving on the 2017 NomCom, please send your expression of interest, including a short biography, by email to legal<at>afrinic dot net by Tuesday 14 February 2017 at 20:00 UTC.

The duties of the NomCom, and the elections to be held, are described below.

Election To Be Held

* AFRINIC Board of Directors:

Three Board seats are up for election, to serve three-year terms from July 2017 to June 2019:

- Seat 3 (Indian Ocean), currently held by Kris Seeburn;

- Seat 4 (Central Africa), currently held by Christian D. Bope;

- Seat 8 (Non-geographical), currently held by Andrew Alston.

* Policy Development Working Group:

One PDWG co-chair position is up for election, to serve a two-year term from June 2017 to June 2019.  The seat is currently held by Dewole Ajao.

* Governance Committee:

One Governance Committee position is up for election, to serve a three-year term from January 2018 to December 2020.  The seat is currently held by Abdalla Omari.

* NRO-NC/ASO-AC:

One member of the NRO NC/ASO AC needs to be elected during 2017, to serve a three-year term from January 2018 to December 2020.  The seat is currently held by Douglas Onyango.

Nomcom Composition and Responsibilities

According to Section 9 of the AFRINIC by-laws, a Nominations Committee (NomCom) appointed by the Board must work to ensure that appropriate candidates are nominated to contest for open seats and that all elections are successfully conducted according to current procedures.

The bylaws say that NomCom must have four members, appointed by the Board.  The Board’s practice is to appoint the four members as follows;

- One member selected from within the AFRINIC Board;

- Three members selected by the AFRINIC Board from the community.

In terms of section 9.1 of the Bylaws:

- No candidate for election to the Board may be a member of the NomCom;

- No person domiciled in a region whose Board seat is open for renewal may be a member of the NomCom; this means that the 2017 NomCom may not not include people who reside in the Central Africa or Indian Ocean regions.

Responsibilities of the NomCom are defined in section 9 of the AFRINIC bylaws and include the following:

- Report to the Board and follow guidelines set by the Board;

- Call for candidates for all open positions;

- Prescribe criteria and qualifications for eligibility to stand for election;

- Interview candidates, if appropriate, prior to finalising the slate of candidates;

- Finalise the list of candodates for every election;

- Supervise the conduct of the polls by the Election Committee on election day.

The Board further expects NomCom members to:

- be neutral; to have no interest in the results of the elections;

- be trusted members of the AFRINIC community;

- have good knowledge of the AFRINIC business environment;

- do their best to fulfill their responsibilities.

NomCom members do not receive any remuneration.

AFRINIC staff will provide logistical support to the NomCom throughout their mandate. Such support includes publication of the list of nominees, compilation of comments, mailing list moderation, website update, communication with nominees and other duties pertaining to the roles and responsibilities of the NomCom.

How to Volunteer

If you are interested in serving on the 2017 NomCom, please send your expression of interest, including a short biography, by email to legal<at>afrinic dot net by Tuesday 14 February 2017 at 20:00 UTC.