In its submission regarding the Joint Partnership Agreement between ICANN and the Department of Commerce, which expires in September this year, the Africa ICANN discussion group -- comprising registry operators, senior government officials and other interested parties -- says that Africa is set to benefit from maintenance of the status quo.

The region has benefitted from ICANN's experience in many ways, including the development of African internetworking groups and growing participation with ICANN's policy development processes, according to a statement from the Africa discussion group.

"The Internet's sound and effective coordination should continue to be operated along the criteria and procedures that have given to the Internet its stability and secure operation," said the statement from the Africa group.

In performing its function as the custodian and coordinator of critical resources including domain names and IP addresses, ICANN has constantly strived to be open, transparent and accountable, according to a separate statement from Pierre Dandjinou, who has represented Africa within ICANN.

"The JPA and the subsequent MoUs have certainly provided the framework for coordination of activities and made ICANN international," said the statement.