With the ever increasing domian name extension, Africa finally has one to call its own called .africa. Addresses can now reflect a company’s interest in the whole of Africa. According to AU commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma he said that Africa “got [its] own digital identity”.
The AU says the .africa domain name will “bring the continent together as an internet community”.
Companies operating in Africa will make use of this domain. For example, a mobile phone company could create mobile.africa to show its Africa-wide presence, or a travel company could set up travel.africa.
Icann, the body that establishes these addresses known as generic Top-Level Domains, approved the move, after lobbying by the AU.
The campaign was spearheaded by a South African company ZA Central Registry (ZACR), which will now be responsible for registering .africa names.
ZACR’s boss Lucky Masilela said that .africa addresses could cost as little as $18 (£15), AFP news agency quotes him as saying, and registration will start in July.
