2 June 2017 Nairobi, Kenya - The Af* organizations, comprised of AFRINIC, AFTLD, AFNOG, AFREN, Africa CERT, and ISOC Africa, gathered at the 5th African Internet Summit, in Nairobi, Kenya, 21 May – 2 June 2017, issue the following statement: 

We are CONCERNED by the increasing number of Internet shutdowns ordered by Governments in Africa. Internet shutdowns are intentional disruptions of Internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location for specified or unspecified periods of time. African territories accounted for many of the 56 Internet shutdowns recorded globally in 2016. 

We are OPPOSED to any form of Internet shutdowns, including those that impact social media sites, entire networks, intentional disruption of Internet or mobile application services access, in any context such as elections, demonstrations or social tensions. Shutdowns offer poor solutions to complex problems and have shown to generate collateral damages on society and the economy. Intentional disruptions of access to information were unequivocally condemned by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016.

We would like to DRAW ATTENTION TO the negative effects of Internet shutdowns Not only do they impact the rights of citizens (e.g. expression, association, access to knowledge and education) recognized both in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, they also impact businesses and entrepreneurs. Various studies have highlighted the high costs of Internet shutdowns on country’s GDPs. In a context where economic growth relies increasingly on Internet access, as reaffirmed in the UN Sustainable Development Agenda, shutdowns can generate long-lasting and costly effects on society and on user trust. 

We DO NOT THINK that the Anti-shutdown policy proposal put forward by some members of the AFRINIC community will offer a sustainable solution to this issue. While we share the same concerns as theproposals authors and welcome the community dialogue this has generated, we think this proposed policy will likely be ineffective and could create unintended damages. 

We are CONCERNED that such a proposal would be difficult to implement, and would take AFRINIC beyond its technical mandate and expertise, as highlighted by AFRINIC staff’s assessment of the proposal. We are also concerned that this proposal might antagonize governments in a way that will worsen the situation as a whole. Finally, the proposal might also impact citizen’s ability to access the Internet beyond the government entities targeted by the proposal. 

Instead, we are CALLING on African governments to renounce the use of Internet shutdowns as a policy tool, and to engage in meaningful dialogue with stakeholders. We UNDERSTAND that governments have legitimate concerns related to Internet use and that they have obligations related to national security and public order.

In the spirit of the WSIS Tunis Agenda, the Af* are available to WORK with African governments and other stakeholders to find better solutions that do not hurt the fundamental rights of citizens and that protect the Internet’s stability, resilience and openness. 

AFRINIC 26 Public Policy Meeting Minutes is now published here

23 June 2017 - We are pleased to inform that the Board has re-elected Mr Sunday Folayan and Mr Haitham El Nakhal as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively, for a period of 1 year terms.

The Board Standing Committees have been reconstituted as follows;

Remuneration Committee

• Lucky Masilela
• Sunday Folayan
• Serge Ilunga
• Alan Barrett

Finance Committee

• Haitham El Nakhal
• Subramanian Moonesamy
• Alan Barrett

Audit Committee

• Christian Bope
• Abibu Ntahigiye
• Seun Ojedeji

July 4 2017 - AFRINIC is announcing the call for applications for the 2017 FIRE Africa Innovation Grants and Awards.

This year, the available types of Grants and Awards are:

• The FIRE Africa Grants which provides two Grants of USD12,500 and USD10,000 respectively.
• The FIRE Africa Awards which provides three Awards of USD3,000. The FIRE Award consists of a USD 3,000 cash prize plus full travel and accommodation for one representative of each project to attend the awards ceremony, and participate in sessions which will be held in Switzerland during the 2017 Internet Governance Forum.

The application deadline for the 2017 Awards and Grants is 31^st July 2017, 23:59 UTC.

For detailed information about competition categories, conditions of entry, and submission procedures, please visit www.fireafrica.org or send us an email at:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Subventions et prix FIRE Africa 2017: Appel à candidatures

AFRINIC annonce l'appel à candidatures pour son programme de subventions et le prix FIRE Africa Innovation 2017.

Cette année, les types de subventions et les prix disponibles sont les suivants:

• Les subventions FIRE Africa qui fournissent deux subventions de USD12,500 et USD10,000, respectivement.
• Les prix FIRE Africa qui offrent trois prix de USD3,000. Le prix FIRE comprend un prix en espèces de 3,000 USD plus un voyage complet et un hébergement pour un représentant de chaque projet pour assister à la cérémonie de remise des prix et participer aux sessions qui se tiendront en Suisse lors du Forum sur la gouvernance de l'Internet de 2017.

La date limite d'inscription pour les prix et subventions 2017 a été fixée pour le 31 juillet 2017, 23:59 UTC.

Pour plus d'informations sur les différentes catégories, les conditions d'entrée et les procédures de soumission, merci de visiter www.fireafrica.org ou envoyez-nous un courriel à:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

July 14 2017 - We are pleased to inform you that our annual report 2016 is now published.
Click here to read the AFRINIC Annual Report 2016.

19 July 2017 - The AFRINIC Board of Directors intends to establish an Appeal Committee to give effect to the requirements in section 3.5 of the Consolidated Policy Manual (that is, the Conflict resolution portion of the Policy Development Process). The Appeal Committee Terms of Reference (version 1) is published at <https://afrinic.net/en/community/working-groups/policy-appeal>.

The Board calls for comments on the Terms of Reference for a 30 day period, ending on 19 August 2017. Comments may be sent to the RPD mailing list <rpd at afrinic.net>.

The Board intends to appoint an interim Appeal Committee without delay, to cater for the possibility that an appeal might be filed before the comments on the Terms of reference can be taken into account. We seek the cooperation of the community in this regard.

Sunday Folayan

Chair of the AFRINIC Board of Directors