[Ncsg-discuss] Is ICANN helping to subvert its own governance model?

[Jean F. Quéralt]

Hi Milton,

I find it interesting that the ITU presence on that board has not raised
concerns.

Also, looking at the Members info page (
https://smartafrica.org/become-a-member/), I do not see any
multistakeholder model there. Unless that involves hefty fees nowadays.
The list of members is quite revealing, overall.

Best regards,
[image: company-logo]
Jean F. Quéralt
Founder & CEO
The IO Foundation

+60 108 04 84 63

JFQueralt at theiofoundation.org <https://server.utags.co/dPYRRzLq>

TheIOFoundation.org <https://server.utags.co/UQhyvZjQ>


On Wed, 12 Nov 2025 at 02:10, Mueller, Milton L <
00001d75540da649-dmarc-request at listserv.syr.edu> wrote:

> Emmanuel, thanks for your response.
>
> 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.
>
> 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
> https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/mou-smart-africa-icann-12nov24-en.pdf
>
>
> It is a bit disingenuous to say that Smart Africa is not an
> intergovernmental entity when its board entirely consists of heads of
> state.  https://smartafrica.org/the-board-2/ 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.
>
>
> Dr. Milton L Mueller
>
> Georgia Institute of Technology
>
> School of Public Policy
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Emmanuel Vitus <emmanuelvitus at gmail.com>
> *Sent:* Monday, November 10, 2025 10:08 PM
> *To:* Mueller, Milton L <milton at gatech.edu>
> *Cc:* NCSG-DISCUSS at listserv.syr.edu <NCSG-DISCUSS at listserv.syr.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: Is ICANN helping to subvert its own governance model?
>
>
> Dear Prof.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> For transparency, I recently published an opinion piece
> <https://medium.com/@emmanuelvitus/smart-africa-icann-caiga-afrinic-how-the-brouhaha-exposes-the-politics-of-african-digital-cf3ddc42beca> 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.
>
> Warm regards
> *Emmanuel Vitus*
>
> Le lun. 10 nov. 2025 à 19:59, Mueller, Milton L <milton at gatech.edu> a
> écrit :
>
> 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.
> 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,
>
> 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.
> Here is a link to the post: https://substack.com/home/post/p-177968365
>
> Alice poses some useful questions that ICANN's management needs to answer:
>
> We need
>
>    - Transparency about ICANN’s full involvement in developing CAIGA
>    [including] the scope of participation and financial support.
>    - Explicit assessment of CAIGA’s compatibility with ICP-2 and the RIR
>    governance principles that apply to RIPE NCC, ARIN, APNIC, and LACNIC.
>    - 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.
>    - Commitment that any AFRINIC governance reforms will be developed
>    through AFRINIC’s own community processes, not external drafting with
>    political endorsement mechanisms.
>
>
>
> Dr. Milton L Mueller
>
> Georgia Institute of Technology
>
> School of Public Policy
>
> <https://internetgovernance.org>
>
>
>
>

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