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Introduction

AFRINIC has been a beacon of support for network operators in Africa, offering expert guidance and assistance through its deployment initiatives. Over the past few years, AFRINIC has helped organizations in 32 African countries achieve 377 deployment milestones, thanks to its innovative and effective programs. In this article, we want to highlight the five countries that have benefited the most from AFRINIC's support and the milestones they were able to achieve.
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Our solutions to scaling the Internet

The AFRINIC Deployment program, which was launched in 2018, offers two ways of supporting network operators - Deployathon and DO Helpdesk.

The Deployathon program is delivered by AFRINIC experts either in face-to-face sessions or remotely, ensuring that the implementation of IPv6 or any other protocol is done following the best common practices of the industry.

On the other hand, the DO Helpdesk is a one-to-one remote session where AFRINIC provides tailor-made support to its resource members. The DO Helpdesk is a safe and convenient platform for network operators to share their specific challenges, and receive hands-on guidance from AFRINIC experts.

The goal of our active solutions is to deliver expert guidance to operational engineers  so they can collaborate with their peers from different networks to confidently implement IPv6, RPKI and other Internet technologies/services on their networks.

We are versatile in the way we  provide support to engineers who are implementing IPv6 or any other protocol. We adapt to each situation and ensure the customer is always satisfied. Our delivery mode depends on each case and it could be either face to face sessions or online. 

Our Deployment Milestones

Since the inception of the Deployathon and the DO helpdesk Programme, 377 deployment milestones were achieved  with 149 organisations from 32 countries participating.  
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The deployment milestones achieved by network operators in Africa are a testament to AFRINIC's commitment to supporting the growth and development of the Internet in Africa.  As of February 2023, Out of the 32 African countries that have benefited from AFRINIC's support, Nigeria leads the way with 114 milestones achieved, followed by South Africa with 78, Malawi with 46, Kenya with 22, and Cameroon with 15.

The milestones achieved and their numbers include
  • Valid route6 object (69)
  • Validated address plan (IPAM) (55)
  • Correct RPKI ROA (51)
  • Advertised IPv6 prefix (38)
  • IPv6-enabled core (13)

Customer Feedback

The Deployathon and DO Helpdesk programmes have received positive feedback from most of our customers. Here are a few extracts from their comments:

Regarding the October 2022 Deployathon at the IXPM in Nigeria, one customer said,
"I appreciated the instructors' help in keeping us on track. I'm also looking forward to the Afrinic Academy."

Another customer mentioned that the Deployathon
"improved my hands-on experience with setting up an IPv6 DNS forward zone."

As for the DO Helpdesk, one customer commented,
"The engineer understood our needs and future growth prospects."

Another customer found the instructor to be
"very helpful."

Conclusion

To conclude, AFRINIC's Deployment program has played a significant role in helping network operators in Africa deploy IPv6, RPKI, and other Internet technologies in a secure and sustainable manner. The achievements of the top five countries demonstrate the impact AFRINIC has had on the growth and development of the Internet in Africa. AFRINIC continues to work towards its goal of providing expert guidance and support to network operators in Africa, and encourages organizations to take advantage of its Deployment program.

If you're interested in learning more about AFRINIC's Deployment program, please feel free to visit http://bit.ly/6deployEN and express your challenges and interest. A DO Engineer will get back to you promptly.

For more information and queries about Deployathon program, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Annex: List of AFRINIC deployment milestones explained

As usually said, clarity precedes success, at AFRINIC, the Deployment engineers came up with milestones to help measure progress as we support our various customers. The table below shows the list of such milestones and their meanings:

KPI

Description

IPv6 prefix (PI)

The Organisation gets an IPv6 prefix from AFRINIC or LIR

IPv6 project approvals

Project approved by the top management

Advertised IPv6 prefix

Prefix visible on Internet routing table

Valid route6 object

IRR object for various prefixes exist in AFRINIC database

Validated address plan (IPAM)

IPv6 prefix allocated according to address plan and implemented within an IP Address Manager

IPv6-compliant procurement policy

Current procurement policy updated with explicit mention of each version of IP

IPv6 traffic from test VLAN

IPv6 traffic running from a test environment within organization network

Detailed IPv6 project plan

Project plan with all the 10 key elements

IPv6-enabled DNS

DNS services (server and/or recursive) via running on IPv6, IPv6 reverse properly setup

IPv6-enabled website

Website reachable on IPv6

IPv6-enabled customer

Final user can source and receive IPv6 traffic

IPv6-enabled core

IPv6 running in the core network

IPv6-enabled access network

IPv6 running in the access network

Approved detailed IPv6 project plan

IPv6 project plan approved by the top management

IPv6 domain objects

IRR object ‘domain’ set for IPv6 block in AFRINIC database

Correct RPKI ROA

Requestor has generated valid Route Origin Authorisation certificate for his IPv6 blocks

Completed network audits

All the key portions of organization network have been audited (edge,core,access)

Initial address plan

IPv6 Address planner has been used with requestor to evaluate the IPv6 prefix size to request to AFRINIC or upstream

DNSSEC signed IPv6 reverse zone

At least one IPv6 reverse zone is signed

 

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