Register your .africa domain by simply selecting a provider from our list of Accredited Registrars www.registry.africa, create an account within their portal, and use their search tool to confirm that your desired domain name is available. Then complete their internal transaction processes, including paying for the domain name via the registrar’s portal. Once the transaction is processed, your new digital identity will be active and you may then use it for emails, creating your website to sell your products and services, etc.
The price of a .africa domain is determined by the registrar you choose. Generally, you can expect the domain name to attract one or more of the following charges:
Ultimately, the products and services you require from your selected registrar determine your domain name costs.
The Registry offers several rights protection mechanisms, some of which we mention here, without any particular order of preference.
You will have to follow the process published on our website using the link provided: https://registry.africa/onboarding-process/. There are a series of steps that you will progress through to ensure that you have the technical, legal, financial, and administrative resources and competencies before you are allowed to provision .africa domain names. Note that only ICANN-accredited registrar(s) with an IANA number must pursue the onboarding process. Please contact us at support@registry.africa and provide your IANA ID and registrar name as per ICANN accreditation. We will reply with a sign-up link that you can use to start your onboarding.
You may reach out to Registry Africa’s legal team to determine this matter, as it depends on whether the model you are proposing includes multiple separate registrar or reseller accounts. Email legal@registry.africa for further information.
The same agreement will apply for .Joburg, .Durban, and .CapeTown. A separate, yet highly similar agreement will be provided for .africa.
You may reach out to the Registry’s legal team to determine this matter as it depends on whether the model you are proposing includes multiple separate registrar or reseller accounts. Email legal@registry.africa for further information.
Yes, grace period refunds are processed during the Add Grace Period (AGP), which means that you may request a refund five calendar days after the initial domain name registration. The Registry will refund your selected registrar’s account if the domain is deleted within this period.
The Registry manages credit and fraud through defined credit limits, real-time monitoring, transaction controls, anomaly detection, and swift suspension or investigation of suspicious registrar activities.
Yes, their monthly billing will contain detailed itemized transactions, fees, credits, refunds, and adjustments per domain name, enabling reconciliation, audit verification, dispute resolution, and transparent financial accountability. You can access the registrar’s online account at any time to download historical financial documentation.
Billing in a domain name registry is performed through automated transaction-based accounting linked to the registry system, typically as follows:
This ensures accurate, auditable, and transparent financial management between the registry and accredited registrars.
Each registrar will be associated with a dedicated account to facilitate this type of billing process.
We are committed to helping our partners grow. The Registry provides a comprehensive toolkit of marketing materials designed to help you effectively promote and sell .africa domains to your customers.
What you can access:
.africa domains are provisioned and managed using the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) over secure connections, in accordance with ICANN technical standards.
Registrars must use mutual TLS authentication, strong credential management, and IP whitelisting as prescribed by the registry’s technical specifications.
Registrars must use mutual TLS authentication, strong credential management, and IP whitelisting as prescribed by the registry’s technical specifications.
Yes. The ZACR processes commands as they are received. The WHOIS system performs a real-time lookup.
Yes. Registry.Africa will make public its Whois policy regarding privacy to keep personal information protected.
No
Version 1.1 of the DNSSEC standard is used. Currently, KeyData is implemented; DSData is in development.
Registrars have access to dedicated technical support, including a helpdesk, escalation procedures for critical incidents, and technical documentation within the registrar portal. Use support@registry.africa for all queries.
The registry monitors and responds to DNS abuse and technical threats by using automated detection tools and reports to identify issues like phishing, malware, and abnormal traffic, then assessing and classifying the risk before working with registrars to take action such as suspension or remediation, escalating critical cases where necessary, and continuously tracking and improving response processes to protect the stability and security of the DNS ecosystem.
.africa registry data is deposited with an ICANN-approved data escrow provider as a contractual obligation on a regular basis to ensure continuity and recovery in the event of a registry failure.
To ensure accredited registrars can prepare for and mitigate potential disruptions, all planned maintenance and incidents are communicated through registrar notices, email alerts, the registrar portal, and the official status page at https://status.registry.africa/.
WHOIS and RDAP are both services used to look up domain name registration information (domain name, registrar details and nameserver info), but they are not the same. WHOIS is the older, unstructured, and less secure system, while RDAP is the modern, secure, and structured replacement that supports controlled access and complies with data protection laws. As promoted by ICANN, RDAP is the future standard, with WHOIS gradually being phased out.
Name server updates are managed via EPP commands and are subject to validation to ensure DNS integrity and prevent misconfiguration.
The registry enforces rate limits on EPP commands to ensure system stability. Excessive or abusive command usage may result in the throttling or temporary suspension of registry services, necessitating the application of rate limitations.
Yes, .africa supports DNSSEC. While DNSSEC is not mandatory for all its accredited registrars, they are encouraged to apply DNSSEC provisions as a way of ensuring that users are directed to authentic, unaltered, or tampered .africa websites. It also builds trust in the namespace by preventing attacks that include cache poisoning and man-in-the-middle interferences.
