No article in the knowledge graph for AFRINIC-The Regional Internet Registry for Africa yet.
Who is AFRINIC-The Regional Internet Registry for Africa?
AFRINIC – The Regional Internet Registry for Africa is the regional internet registry (RIR) responsible for allocating and managing public Internet number resources for Africa and parts of the Indian Ocean region.
- Allocation and registration of IPv4 and IPv6 address space (IP addressing and resource management).
- Assignment and management of Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) for network operators (routing and interconnection).
- WHOIS and related registry database services for querying and maintaining Internet number resource records (registry data services).
- Capacity-building, training, and community support on Internet number resource management and related technical topics (technical training services).
- Policy development facilitation for Internet number resource governance within the AFRINIC service region (Internet governance and policy coordination).
Show more
More About AFRINIC-The Regional Internet Registry for Africa
AFRINIC – The Regional Internet Registry for Africa operates as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)-designated regional internet registry for Africa and portions of the Indian Ocean region, providing allocation and registration of public Internet Protocol (IP) address space and Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) to Internet Service Providers (ISP), enterprises, government networks, academic institutions, and other network operators. Its role aligns with the global RIR system used for coordinating unique Internet number resources across defined geographic regions.
AFRINIC manages IPv4 and IPv6 address space (IP addressing) and ASNs (routing and interconnection) under policies developed by the regional community. Organizations that require provider-independent address space or their own Autonomous System Number (ASN) typically become AFRINIC members and request resources according to documented criteria, including justification based on network architecture and planned usage. Allocated prefixes and ASNs are recorded in AFRINIC’s registry and exposed through WHOIS and related registry services, which are used by network operators, security teams, and researchers for resource ownership and contact information lookup.
AFRINIC’s services are integrated in enterprise and carrier environments through standard Internet protocols and frameworks, including Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) for interdomain routing using assigned ASNs, and IPv4/IPv6 routing of allocated address blocks. AFRINIC provides and maintains registry database services (WHOIS and associated tools) that interoperate with routing registries and global Internet number resource datasets. These services are used in routing policy configuration, abuse handling workflows, incident response, and due diligence checks related to IP address space and ASN usage.
AFRINIC also conducts training and capacity-building programs (technical training services) on topics such as IPv6 deployment, routing security, and Internet number resource management practices. These activities are oriented toward network engineers, administrators, and planners in ISPs, enterprises, academic networks, and government institutions across its service region. Training often references established Internet standards and best-current-practice documents published through the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and related technical communities.
From a marketplace and directory perspective, AFRINIC is categorized primarily in Internet infrastructure coordination, including IP address management services, ASN services, registry and WHOIS services, and Internet governance policy facilitation. Its offerings are comparable in function and scope to those of other regional internet registries, with a geographic focus on Africa and the Indian Ocean region. Enterprises and institutions that operate multi-homed networks, require independent address space, or participate in regional policy processes engage with AFRINIC as part of their Internet connectivity and governance strategy.
Our description of AFRINIC-The Regional Internet Registry for Africa. Updated December 2025.
