You are already used to domain names that end with .com, and .org but not .africa. This is no longer the case as the African Union (AU) has launched a unique web address .africa for the continent.
Outgoing Chairperson of the African Union, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who will quit the Union next week and hand over to Chadian Foreign Minister, Moussa Faki Mahamat after four years said: “With .africa, I would say Africa has finally got its digital identity.”
Meanwhile, the African Union on its part said: .africa domain name will “bring the continent together as an internet community”.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body that establishes these addresses known as generic Top-Level Domains, endorsed the domain name after the African Union lobbied for it.
The campaign for .africa was led by ZA Central Registry (ZACR), South Africa, which will be responsible for registering .africa names.
ZACR’s boss Lucky Masilela said that .africa addresses could cost as little as $18 (£15), and companies will be able to buy the domain name as from July.
With this, web addresses can now show a business’s African outlook. So, do not be surprised if you see .africa when surfing the web.
