[afnog] AfriNIC Takes Major Step Forward!

[Brian Longwe]

PRESS RELEASE

AfriNIC Submits Application to ICANN to be recognized as the Fifth Regional
Internet Registry
Port Louis, Mauritius - 6 September 2004

On 1 September 2004, Adiel Akplogan, CEO of AfriNIC, officially submitted
to ICANN the AfriNIC Ltd. application for AfriNIC to be recognized as the
fifth Regional Internet Registry (RIR). This is a major step in the AfriNIC
process. Once formally recognized by ICANN, AfriNIC will be responsible for
managing Internet number resources (IPv4, IPv6 and Autonomous System
Numbers) throughout the African and Indian Ocean regions.

The AfriNIC submission has been strongly supported by the Number Resource
Organization (www.nro.net), the representative organization of the four
Regional Internet Registries currently operating throughout the world. In a
statement of support for AfriNIC, the Number Resource Organization
encouraged the ICANN Board to provide provisional recognition of AfriNIC as
soon as possible.

AfriNIC was incorporated as an organization in 2004 in response to the
proposal by the African Internet community. It was established to be a
neutral, non-profit, Regional Internet Registry that could act in the
long-term best interests of the Internet community throughout the African
and Indian Ocean regions. Once formally recognized, AfriNIC will become the
fifth Regional Internet Registry, after APNIC (www.apnic.net), ARIN
(www.arin.net), LACNIC (www.lacnic.net) and the RIPE NCC (www.ripe.net).

1 September 2004 was also the starting point of a technical transition
process between the other RIRs and AfriNIC. This process enables AfriNIC IP
Analysts to co-evaluate relevant requests for IP address space and
Autonomous System Numbers with a RIPE NCC, APNIC or ARIN IP Analyst. The
purpose of this is to prepare for a smooth transfer of the existing Local
Internet Registries (LIRs) in the AfriNIC region. These LIRs will be
transferred to AfriNIC as soon as the ICANN accreditation is received, and
AfriNIC is formally recognized as the Regional Internet Registry for the
African and Indian Ocean regions. It is expected that this will happen by
the end of 2004.

About AfriNIC
AfriNIC has been proposed by the African community for the purpose of
managing Internet Numbers Resources (IP address and Autonomous System
Numbers) in the continent. It is expected that African organizations that
presently obtain IP address space from the RIPE NCC, ARIN or APNIC will in
future obtain IP address space from AfriNIC.

Incorporated in Mauritius (with it technical Operations in South Africa, it
disaster recovery center in Egypt and Training Coordination in Ghana),
AfriNIC is currently in a transition phase to receive formal recognition
from ICANN. Once it receives formal recognition, it will join the existing
Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) and will serve the countries throughout
the African and Indian Ocean regions.

Currently, African countries north of the equator are served by the RIPE
NCC, while those south of the equator are served by ARIN. Indian Ocean
islands are served by APNIC.
More information about AfriNIC is available at: www.afrinic.net

About the Regional Internet Registries

There are four Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) existing today. They
provide Internet Number Resource allocation and registration services that
support the operation of the Internet globally.

The Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) consist of:
- APNIC   www.apnic.net
- ARIN    www.arin.net
- LACNIC  www.lacnic.net
- RIPE NCC www.ripe.net

More information on the RIRs is available at:
http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/about/regional/index.html

About the Number Resource Organization (NRO)

Formed by the Regional Internet Registries to formalize their co-operative
efforts, the Number Resource Organization (NRO) exists to protect the
unallocated Number Resource pool, to promote and protect the bottom-up
policy development process, and to act as a focal point for Internet
community input into the RIR system.

More information about the NRO is available at:
www.nro.net

Contact Information

Adiel Akplogan, CEO, AfriNIC
Tel: +230 259 0242 / 202 6528
Fax: +230 210 155
adiel at afrinic.net  - www.afrinic.net
2nd Flore les Jamalacs Building
Vieux conseil Street - Port-Louis
Mauritius

South Africa Office (Technical Center)
Tel: +27 12 841 2894 / 2648
Fax: +27 12 841 3203
CSIR Campus - ISTC
Building 43A, Meiring-Naude Road
PoBox: 395 Pretoria 001
South Africa