• Registry Africa is celebrating 10 years in the domain name industry on the continent.
• It is the registry operator and administrator of the .africa domain, and has announced a 10-year renewal of the domain.
• .africa was first launched in 2017 and has served as a unique identifier for businesses operating on the continent.

If you happen to own, or are interested in owning, a .africa domain name, you’ll be glad to hear that Registry Africa has renewed its use on the African continent for a further 10 years.

Introduced in 2017 by former chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the .africa domain name has served as an indicator for local businesses and individuals operating on the continent or with a particular focus on work in Africa.

Along with renewing its Registry Operator Agreement with ICANN for a further 10 years, Registry Africa is celebrating 10 years of operating in the domain name industry.

“Despite some challenges, today we can only look ahead to the next ten years which look prosperous for the .africa journey. The extension of the contract by ICANN for another ten years is a sign of excellence and a vote of confidence in the delivery of services to end users,” noted Registry Africa in a release shared with Hypertext.

“Today, as we celebrate this milestone, we look back at the journey which hasn’t been without its challenges and are filled with immense pride. Our contract being renewed is a sign of the responsible and trusted way in which we have delivered on our previous contracted mandate to manage this African top level domain name for Africans by Africans,” added Registry Africa CEO Lucky Masilela.

Along with denoting that one operates on the African continent, the .africa domain is also aimed at offering a digital real estate for businesses, organisations and individuals to demonstrate their connection to Africa.

“The African digital space is full of opportunities; and as technology advances and Internet penetration rates increase across the continent, so too the .africa domain name is poised to play an even more important role in driving digital transformation, economic growth and social development in Africa.” concluded Masilela.

[Image – Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash]