<div dir="ltr"><div>Hi Milton,</div><div><br></div><div>I find it interesting that the ITU presence on that board has not raised concerns.</div><div><br></div><div>Also, looking at the Members info page (<a href="https://smartafrica.org/become-a-member/">https://smartafrica.org/become-a-member/</a>), I do not see any multistakeholder model there. Unless that involves hefty fees nowadays.</div><div>The list of members is quite revealing, overall.</div><div><br></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"> <table width="600px" style="font-family:Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin:0px;font-family:inherit"><font color="#000000">Best regards,</font><br></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom:8px"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-size:inherit"><tbody><tr><td><table cellpadding="0px" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td style="border-right:3px solid #f79552;padding-right:14px"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-bottom:8px"><img src="https://static.sendsig.com/workspace-templates/0dd3c0f9-7eae-4eb0-ab07-9d1c92bfe889/company-logo-1747566985382.png" alt="company-logo" width="75" title="Company logo" style="display:block"></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="font-style:normal;font-weight:0;line-height:100%;padding-left:14px"><table cellpadding="0px" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse"><tbody><tr><td><table cellpadding="0px" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="padding-bottom:8px"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:700;padding-bottom:2px;font-size:11px;line-height:1.5;color:#50919f;font-family:inherit;white-space:nowrap">Jean F. Quéralt</td></tr><tr><td style="font-size:11px;line-height:1.5;color:#4e5056;font-family:inherit;padding-bottom:2px">Founder & CEO</td></tr><tr><td style="font-style:normal;font-weight:400;padding-bottom:2px;font-size:11px;line-height:1.5;color:#4e5056;font-family:inherit">The IO Foundation</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom:5px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px;text-align:left" valign="middle"><span style="vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block"><p style="height:16px;width:16px;background-color:#50919f;vertical-align:middle;display:none;margin:0px;padding:0px"></p></span><span style="font-size:11px;line-height:1.5;color:#4e5056;text-align:left;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:middle" align="top">+60 108 04 84 63</span></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom:5px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px"><span style="vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block"><p style="height:16px;width:16px;font-size:11px;background-color:#50919f;vertical-align:middle;display:none;margin:0px;padding:0px"></p></span><a valign="middle" href="https://server.utags.co/dPYRRzLq" style="font-size:11px;line-height:1.5;color:#4e5056;text-align:left;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:middle" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">JFQueralt@theiofoundation.org</a></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom:5px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px"><span style="vertical-align:middle"><p style="height:16px;width:16px;font-size:11px;background-color:#50919f;display:none;margin:0px;padding:0px"></p></span><a href="https://server.utags.co/UQhyvZjQ" style="font-size:11px;line-height:1.5;color:#4e5056;text-align:left;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:middle" target="_blank">TheIOFoundation.org</a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, 12 Nov 2025 at 02:10, Mueller, Milton L <<a href="mailto:00001d75540da649-dmarc-request@listserv.syr.edu">00001d75540da649-dmarc-request@listserv.syr.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-5264774817382562129">
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Emmanuel, thanks for your response. </div>
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I have done some fact checking and also can find no evidence that ICANN funded CAIGA. I have asked ICANN's VPs to confirm this but as noted in my earlier message they have not replied. As far as I can tell that is the only inaccuracy in Alice's post.</div>
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Even if there is no funding, there is of course the November 2024 MoU, which seems to authorize special efforts to empower governments in Section 3.3
<a href="https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/mou-smart-africa-icann-12nov24-en.pdf" target="_blank">
https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/mou-smart-africa-icann-12nov24-en.pdf</a> </div>
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It is a bit disingenuous to say that Smart Africa is not an intergovernmental entity when its board entirely consists of heads of state. <a href="https://smartafrica.org/the-board-2/" target="_blank">https://smartafrica.org/the-board-2/</a> Anyone who has been around internet
governance circles as long as I have sees many instances of governments professing (perhaps sincerely) to be "multistakeholder" when in fact they are just states seeking consultation from other stakeholders but not really sharing power. </div>
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<p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em">Dr. Milton L Mueller</p>
<p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em">Georgia Institute of Technology</p>
<p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em">School of Public Policy</p>
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<b>From:</b> Emmanuel Vitus <<a href="mailto:emmanuelvitus@gmail.com" target="_blank">emmanuelvitus@gmail.com</a>><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, November 10, 2025 10:08 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Mueller, Milton L <<a href="mailto:milton@gatech.edu" target="_blank">milton@gatech.edu</a>><br>
<b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS@listserv.syr.edu" target="_blank">NCSG-DISCUSS@listserv.syr.edu</a> <<a href="mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS@listserv.syr.edu" target="_blank">NCSG-DISCUSS@listserv.syr.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: Is ICANN helping to subvert its own governance model?</div>
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<p style="direction:ltr;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em"><span style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif;font-size:9.75pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Dear Prof.</span></p>
<p style="direction:ltr;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em"><span style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif;font-size:9.75pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Thank you for sharing Alice’s article and for keeping this important discussion alive. I would, however,
suggest some caution, as several of the claims being circulated are not supported by the factual record.</span></p>
<p style="direction:ltr;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em"><span style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif;font-size:9.75pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">I reviewed the meeting proceedings from Prague, the AIS in Accra, and most recently Dublin, where
the CAIGA blueprint was presented. ICANN was never mentioned as a sponsor or financier. The document, attached here, has been shared with the community since Prague for review and contribution. Consultations are still ongoing across Africa to establish an
advisory body that will help coordinate African voices in global Internet governance.</span></p>
<p style="direction:ltr;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em"><span style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif;font-size:9.75pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Smart Africa is an alliance of 40 African governments working with the private sector, Regional Economic
Communities, universities, and other institutions. It is not a government agency or political instrument. it's not the African Union. It has an NGO status. </span></p>
<p style="direction:ltr;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em"><span style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif;font-size:9.75pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">For transparency, I recently published
<a style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" id="m_7171318753804852134OWA0bc5cdf7-461b-4dad-d8f7-8f846c3411ea" href="https://medium.com/@emmanuelvitus/smart-africa-icann-caiga-afrinic-how-the-brouhaha-exposes-the-politics-of-african-digital-cf3ddc42beca" target="_blank">
an opinion piece</a> linking all transcripts and documents from ICANN public meetings to help anyone verify the facts. It may lack a touch of diplomacy :), but it was written in good faith. Having followed and written about the AfriNIC crisis for years, I find
it ironic that some of those who once praised Smart Africa’s intervention now question the same process that helped save the continent’s only Internet registry.</span></p>
<p style="direction:ltr;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em"><span style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif;font-size:9.75pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Warm regards<br>
<b>Emmanuel Vitus</b></span></p>
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<div style="direction:ltr">Le lun. 10 nov. 2025 à 19:59, Mueller, Milton L <<a id="m_7171318753804852134OWAf736b50a-f362-f3b7-5f7d-52a4e1369358" href="mailto:milton@gatech.edu" target="_blank">milton@gatech.edu</a>> a écrit :</div>
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I want to make sure that everyone in NCSG has read this substack article by Alice Munyua of Kenya. Although it deals with IP address policy not DNS policy, the issues it raises apply to the entire ICANN ecosystem. </div>
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The TL;DR is that ICANN has supported an African organization that is rooted in national governments and is proposing to set up an overlay governance structure for AFRINIC that disempowers the community members and gives governments veto power over policy decisions.
As Alice writes in her post, </div>
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The RIR system; AFRINIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, RIPE NCC manages the internet’s addressing infrastructure globally. These organisations work because they are built on community trust and technical independence from governmental control. The system works because
the same principles apply everywhere; bottom up policy development, community self governance, insulation from political direction. If those principles do not apply in Africa, if intergovernmental organisations can draft bylaws externally, coordinate electoral
outcomes, and substitute political endorsement for member ratification then the precedent affects the global system.</div>
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Here is a link to the post: <a id="m_7171318753804852134OWAd648a821-c3fa-e26b-5bf0-72fd44680d44" href="https://substack.com/home/post/p-177968365" target="_blank">
https://substack.com/home/post/p-177968365</a></div>
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Alice poses some useful questions that ICANN's management needs to answer: </div>
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We need</div>
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Transparency about ICANN’s full involvement in developing CAIGA [including] the scope of participation and financial support.</div>
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Explicit assessment of CAIGA’s compatibility with ICP-2 and the RIR governance principles that apply to RIPE NCC, ARIN, APNIC, and LACNIC.</div>
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Answer to the direct question: Would ICANN support similar governmental restructuring of RIRs in other regions? If not, justification for why different standards apply to African internet governance.</div>
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Commitment that any AFRINIC governance reforms will be developed through AFRINIC’s own community processes, not external drafting with political endorsement mechanisms.</div>
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<span style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif">Dr.</span>
<span style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif">
Milton L Mueller</span></p>
<p style="direction:ltr;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt">
<span style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif">Georgia Institute of Technology</span></p>
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<span style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_EmbeddedFont,Aptos_MSFontService,Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif">School of Public Policy</span></p>
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<a style="text-decoration:none;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" title="https://internetgovernance.org" id="m_7171318753804852134OWA3f869b9a-a0ab-d34b-12cd-5a6b9d144c81" href="https://internetgovernance.org" target="_blank"><img size="6976" style="width: 320px; height: 79px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" height="79" width="320" id="m_7171318753804852134x_m_-8205922594746671664image_0" src="cid:ii_19b07b3e684d86c2a991"></a></p>
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