AFRINIC receives a variety of questions and enquiries for support. At the same time, some fall out of scope; however, we have narrowed down the frequently asked questions, mostly related to member account information, IP resources and billing-related queries.
PeeringDB wants input from everyone who uses our interconnection database. Our anonymous survey is now open until 23:59 UTC on 16 October 2022.
We would like your feedback to help us make PeeringDB more useful to everyone involved in connecting networks.
We had about 250 responses to last year’s survey, which helped guide our product development.
Key changes delivered so far in 2022 include:
We’ve also published more documents in our how-to documentation series.
Steve McManus, PeeringDB Product Committee Chair, says: "The 2021 survey helped us focus development where it was most needed. We used it to develop our roadmap. We are still implementing things we have learned from previous surveys but want your input on how we should adapt. Please take a few moments of your time to help us make PeeringDB a better service!”
In 2022 we have added a couple of extra questions. We'd like to know how many people usePeeringDB at your organization. We'd also like to know how you use it: web, API, or via a local cache. We will use your answers to focus development work where it is most needed.
The survey is available in the six UN languages, Portuguese and Ukrainian. Please provide comments in whatever language you want to express yourself.
We’ll share the results and the new product roadmap early in 2023.
So CLICK HERE to help guide PeeringDB’s future development.
If you have an idea to improve PeeringDB, you can share it on our low-traffic mailing lists or create an issue directly on GitHub. If you find a data quality issue, please let us know This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
PeeringDB is a freely available, user-maintained database of networks and the go-to location for interconnection data. The database facilitates the global interconnection of networks at Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), data centres, and other interconnection facilities and is the first stop in making interconnection decisions.
On 21st July 2022, AFRINIC organised a finance webinar with its resource members. The main focus of the webinar was to give members further explanation on questions raised on the financials during the last AGMM. Discussions were also focused on the non-adoption of the Audited Financial Statements for the year ending 31 December 2021. One of the questions that AFRINIC believed needed more clarity to the members was the difference of USD 16K in the finance report published on the website and the audited financial statements in the strategic cash reserves section.
The difference in the above table represents accrued interest adjustment provided by the auditors after completing the audit exercise.
The webinar was attended by 62 AFRINIC Resource Members from 62 Organizations in 28 countries.
Image showing the Webinar statistics
Hosted by the AFRINIC Finance Team, the webinar provided insights on the AFRINIC accounts that were audited by the company’s auditors BDO Mauritius and further explained the discrepancies between the unaudited finance report published on the website and the Audited Financial Statements that were raised by Members, during the AGMM and on the AFRINIC mailing lists conveying the possible impacts of the unadopted financials to AFRINIC.
A series of polls took place to engage further with the Members present in the webinar. From these polls, we noted:
In light of the above, we prepared a short video that guides how Resource Members can vote on the MyAFRINIC Platform.
Below are a few links that you could find helpful if you missed or need references for the webinar.
AFRINIC would like to thank all the members who participated in the AFRINIC Finance webinar. We shall inform you of other upcoming webinars on our key activities during the year.
The recently concluded Annual General Member’s meeting raised queries over the AFRINIC Audited accounts for 2021. We wrote to our Resource Members and collected several questions on the Finance audit. Out of which, a few questions came through, and valid responses were given. The Team felt that it would be essential to hold a webinar to better engage with our Resource Members on matters of finances.
The webinar will take place on 21st July 2022 at 12:00 UTC on the Zoom Platform and will provide an update based on the following agenda:
This is a closed meeting, and all Resource Members are invited to engage in the webinar.
Registration for this webinar will be available on the MyAFRINIC portal and the Members’ Discuss Mailing List.
With the finances for 2021 not adopted, this will mean that we will seek to have our membership adopt our finances at the SGMM. Section 115 (5) of the Companies Act 2001 provides that where the financial statements are not approved at the annual meeting, they shall be presented at a further special meeting called by the Board.
Usually, a financial statement would not be approved at an annual meeting if, by the time the meeting is being held, the company had not yet received its audited financial statement. Under these circumstances, section 115(5) of the Companies Act 2001 caters for a company to present its audited financial statement once it is available. In our case, it is different. The member base has simply rejected the audit exercise conducted by the company’s auditor, which has thus given rise to an unprecedented situation, not to mention the reputational risk associated with it.
Be that as it may, AFRINIC does intend to file audited finances for the financial year ended 31 December 2021 in line with best corporate governance practices. For that, AFRINIC requires the collaboration and understanding of its key stakeholders.
This is also following the AFRINIC Bylaws:
7.6) The Registered Members and Resource Members shall, at Annual General Members’ Meetings or by way of written resolutions, in addition to the rights conferred by Articles 7.1 and 7.2, have the right to:
As such, it is essential to have as many resource members, if not all, in the webinar. This will help us respond to your queries and clarify issues related to the AFRINIC Audited 2021 finances and await the adoption of the audit in the Special General Members Meeting (SGMM), whose date is yet to be announced.
Based on the prevailing situation in AFRINIC, this is the probable plan of activities leading to the SGMM. The timeline of activities below is presented as:
| Probable Date/Month | Activity |
|---|---|
| 21st July 2022 | AFRINIC Finance Webinar |
| Subject to AFRINIC having a properly constituted board of directors | Special General Members Meeting for the adoption of the 2021 finances. |
We hope to see you in the upcoming webinar and other subsequent events, as your participation is essential for the digital growth of Africa.
Should you have any questions, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
From Left: Mr Pierre Dandjinou, VP, Stakeholder Engagement - Africa- ICANN, Mr Goran Marby, President and CEO, ICANN, Mr Eddy Kayihura, CEO AFRINIC and Mr Arthur N'guessan, Head of Stakeholder Development, AFRINIC, during the WTDCAFRINIC participated in the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) 2022 that took place in Kigali, Rwanda from 6th -16th June 2022. Under the banner of “Connecting the unconnected to achieve sustainable development,” the conference presented a unique opportunity to develop innovative approaches and new models of collaboration for connectivity and digital solutions in this final Decade of Action to achieve the SDGs. The WTDC is organized by The International Telecommunication Union, through its Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), every four years in the period between two Plenipotentiary Conferences to consider topics, projects and programmes relevant to telecommunication development.
Proposals submitted by AFRINIC and endorsed by African countries were taken into consideration in the final draft of the new Resolution 63 (Rev Kigali 2022), which was adopted by the ITU delegates during the plenary session. This is certainly a remarkable achievement for our continent that will be focusing on the effective deployment of IPv6 to accelerate the digital transformation. We expect this new resolution to be ratified during the ITU Plenipotentiary meeting in September 2022.
On the sidelines of the WTDC 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda, the AFRINIC delegation had fruitful meetings with partners and stakeholders which fostered ways for more cooperation and reinforcement of our complementary roles in the acceleration of Internet and digital service usage in Africa. AFRINIC has been cooperating with several African countries and the African Telecommunications Union on the effective deployment of IPv6 by 2026, to fulfil the growing demands for connectivity while ensuring a more robust network infrastructure.
From left: Mr Arthur N'guessan, Head of Stakeholder Development, AFRINIC and Ms Meriem Slimani, Standardization & Development Coordinator, African Telecommunications Union (ATU)
The delegation left Kigali with the full satisfaction of getting the warming support of our stakeholders, who are ready to contribute toward the sustainable development of AFRINIC and the Internet in Africa.
AFRINIC en Avant.
This blog was penned by:
Arthur Nguessun,
Head of Stakeholder Development,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.afrinic.net
AFRINIC AI PresenterThe 2022 AFRINIC Annual General Members Meeting will take place on 3rd June 2022, when three Board seats and one Governance Committee seat are up for election.
AFRINIC strives to ensure a free and fair election process; however, It has come to our attention that certain entities are soliciting AFRINIC members to give up their MyAFRINIC login credentials to third parties.
All resource members are granted access to MyAFRINIC, the portal through which members can vote electronically and access other services.
We wish to remind our members about the importance and responsibility of keeping your MyAFRINIC credentials safe.
Sharing those credentials will be highly prejudicial to you, your organisation, the resources allocated to your organisation and AFRINIC.
Be aware of all we just mentioned and many other risks you take by sharing your account with others. Note that misconfiguration of your personal information or network information such as routes or RPKI can impact the Internet Routing Security and more.
You hold a stake in the global routing security, hence it is your responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the resources allocated to you.
Finally, AFRINIC relies on you to preserve the integrity of its elections, which will contribute to building a stronger AFRINIC.
Act responsibly. Thank you.
ARIN recently issued a final reminder on the imminent retirement of the ARIN non-authenticated Internet Routing Registry (IRR), which is planned for Monday, 4 April 2022, at 16:00 GMT. Click here (https://www.arin.net/announcements/20220321-irr/) for more information.
AFRINIC now offers its own Internet Routing Registry (IRR) Service to its members, click here (https://afrinic.net/internet-routing-registry) for more information.