AfriNIC Policy Compliance

Details

Name of Proposal	AfriNIC Policy Compliance		Status: Under Discussion
ID:	AFPUB-2026-GEN-002-DRAFT01	Date Submitted:	30/04/2026
Author(s):	Jordi Palet Martinez jordi.palet[at]theipv6company.com The IPv6 Company Frank Habicht geier[at]geier.ne.tz Tanzania ISP Association Mark Elkins mje[at]posix.co.za POSIX	Version:	3.0
Obsoletes:		Amends:	CPM (new section)

1. Summary of the problem being addressed by this proposal

The AFRINIC RSA* mandates members to comply with the AFRINIC policies developed via the PDP.

Section 4.c of the RSA states the irrevocable commitment of the member for using the services for the purpose for which it was requested and in full unreserved compliance with AFRINIC policies.

This is of key importance, because a member not following the policies may be impacted in the evaluation of future requests by AFRINIC, the revocation of the services or even the closure of the member (section 4.b.iii).

Just to be clear, “services” are defined in the RSA, under section 1.c, and those include number resources, among others. So, the impact for a member that is not following the PDP process and CPM changes, may be of catastrophic business consequences.

The PDP is continuously updating the CPM, and it is obvious that some members may not be following, up to date, all the details and possible impact in their services/resources, while the RSA states that AFRINIC, at its own discretion, can investigate the use of the services.

Every Policy in the CPM indicates what and how things should be done. Lack of conformity with any part of the CPM, even if not clearly stated, it is considered a lack of compliance, following a coherent interpretation of both the RSA and the CPM.

Consequently, members should be protected against this situation, in a simple manner that allows them to know their up-to-date policy compliance, get alerts about the lack of compliance and consequently react to address those.

There should be always equal opportunities for any member to correct mistakes before reaching a fatal point.

2. Summary of how this proposal addresses the problem

This proposal provides the framework for a “Policy Compliance Dashboard”, to be developed by AFRINIC, and incorporated to MyAFRINIC (and future members communications platforms).

This proposal will allow periodically review of the policy compliance status of each member, as much automated as possible, so they can receive automated notifications of any issue. Warnings will be also sent to the staff, and only in cases of a continued and repeated lack of compliance, or severe violation of certain aspects of the CPM, AFRINIC will be able to take further actions according to the RSA.

AFRINIC will implement this policy in phases, according to Board and internal staff decisions, depending on the availability of resources, in order to avoid impact in day-to-day operations. For example, a first phase may be integrating in the MyAFRINIC the overall dashboard framework (GUI, notifications, non-compliance tracking), followed by the already existing automated tools (as indicated by analysis impact 4.3 on v1 of this proposal). Then, each part of the RSA and CPM can be addressed, one by one, or even several of them in parallel. This way, there is not a specific timeframe, and it can be accommodated to the available resources, results for each part of the RSA/CPM being integrated and tickets being generated and resolved, etc.

It is clear that there is a one-time investment in implementation, as with the majority of the policies, however, the advantages for the staff, community and membership are obvious, including a huge saving of resources in manual tracking and allowing the membership to be up-to-date with the compliance even with policy changes. Those advantages may also be considered by the board in terms of recruiting staff for the implementation, if needed, depending on the progress of the implementation project.

Proposal

Adding a new section in the CPM, numbered as best fits according to the staff criteria, as follows:

Proposed
1. Policy Compliance AFRINIC services are provided to members under the umbrella of the RSA mandate, which in turn ask for compliance with policies. Those policies are documented in the CPM, which is continuously updated by the PDP.
2 Policy Compliance Dashboard AFRINIC “Policy Compliance Dashboard” shows to each member its status of compliance with the applicable resource policies, collected by means of a periodical review, automated as much as possible. The dashboard automation will need to be accommodated along the evolution of the CPM evolves through the PDP, in order to display new details.
3. Notifications The dashboard: Is subject to review periodically based on updates to resource policies. Will automatically send notifications to members as soon as non-compliance against the policy is detected. Will send reminders to the members for non-compliance Will send notifications to AFRINIC staff for persistent non-compliance. A persistent non-compliance in this case means non-compliance unresolved during a specific period, which need to be defined by the Staff. The Staff should define and publish a specific procedure, which could be updated from time to time, in order to ensure a fair treatment of all the members.
4. Lack of Compliance In any case and following the RSA prerogatives, AFRINIC is able to initiate a more exhaustive investigation and take further actions, when there is evidence suggesting that there is lack of compliance.
5. Service Withholding, Revocation or Member Closure As part of the procedure above indicated, to be defined by the Staff, specific rules should be defined.
6. Exceptionalities When the revocation of resources involves essential strategic infrastructure that is necessary for the operation of the Internet in the region, or in exceptional situations such as natural disasters or political instability, the AFRINIC Board may take special measures, with prior assessment by the Staff, once such an exceptional situation is detected.

Proposed

1. Policy Compliance

AFRINIC services are provided to members under the umbrella of the RSA mandate, which in turn ask for compliance with policies.

Those policies are documented in the CPM, which is continuously updated by the PDP.

2 Policy Compliance Dashboard

AFRINIC “Policy Compliance Dashboard” shows to each member its status of compliance with the applicable resource policies, collected by means of a periodical review, automated as much as possible.

The dashboard automation will need to be accommodated along the evolution of the CPM evolves through the PDP, in order to display new details.

3. Notifications

The dashboard:

Is subject to review periodically based on updates to resource policies.
Will automatically send notifications to members as soon as non-compliance against the policy is detected.
Will send reminders to the members for non-compliance
Will send notifications to AFRINIC staff for persistent non-compliance. A persistent non-compliance in this case means non-compliance unresolved during a specific period, which need to be defined by the Staff.

The Staff should define and publish a specific procedure, which could be updated from time to time, in order to ensure a fair treatment of all the members.

4. Lack of Compliance

In any case and following the RSA prerogatives, AFRINIC is able to initiate a more exhaustive investigation and take further actions, when there is evidence suggesting that there is lack of compliance.

5. Service Withholding, Revocation or Member Closure

As part of the procedure above indicated, to be defined by the Staff, specific rules should be defined.

6. Exceptionalities

When the revocation of resources involves essential strategic infrastructure that is necessary for the operation of the Internet in the region, or in exceptional situations such as natural disasters or political instability, the AFRINIC Board may take special measures, with prior assessment by the Staff, once such an exceptional situation is detected.

4. References

AFRINIC RSA:

https://afrinic.net/membership/agreements
https://afrinic.net/ast/pdf/services/afrinic-rsa-en-201801.pdf

Similar policies or procedures, for the same/similar purposes, also exist in the other regions.

APNIC:
https://www.apnic.net/community/policy/resources#4.2.-Closure-and-recovery

ARIN:
https://www.arin.net/participate/policy/nrpm/#12-resource-review

LACNIC:
An equivalent proposal reached consensus and has been ratified (being implemented in phases):
https://politicas.lacnic.net/politicas/detail/id/LAC-2019-9?language=en

RIPE NCC:
https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-694
https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-716

Policy Proposal

Last Modified on - 27 May 2026

AfriNIC Policy Compliance

Details

1. Summary of the problem being addressed by this proposal

Proposal

4. References

Revision History

Revision History

AFRINIC Policy Impact Assessment

AFRINIC Staff Assessment (To be available soon)