25 March 2010 [MediaGlobal]: African Internet users will soon be able to choose “.africa” to adorn the end of their domain names. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which coordinates the Internet’s naming system, along with the African Union (AU) and others, haven given their approval to an initiative establishing .africa as a valid gTLD. A gTLD is a term for the word placed at the end of a Website domain name, like .com or .org. DotConnectAfrica (DCA), a nonprofit alliance consisting of NGOs, businesses, and governmental organizations proposed the .africa idea and will be in charge of distributing the gTLD on the market with the profits reinvested in building African socio-technological advancements.
With the adoption of .africa the continent joins other with gTLDs, like Europe and Asia, who use “.eu” and “.asia,” respectively. Although specific countries in Africa have their own cbTLDs (country-based TLDs), there has never been a continental TLD for all of Africa as one entity. The .africa gTLD certainly represents a sense of unity and indicates that Africa is making significant steps towards becoming more connected to the rest of the world via information and communication technologies.
“There are many complex factors that determine the success of a TLD,” said Karla Valente, director of communications and project services with ICANN. “Speaking from a conceptual standpoint and taking into account my previous experience with TLDs, I would say .africa could be a great tool to promote the region, celebrate its cultural diversity, address the needs countries have in common, and possibly even give a united identity in instances where that makes sense.”
Many groups including the AU and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have pointed to information and communication technology’s power to spur development in Africa. DotConnectAfrica plans to use the .africa initiative to help boost the continent’s online presence and visibility. Rebekah Mintzer