The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) gave the ZA Central Registry NPC (ZACR), trading as Registry Africa, the right to administer the .africa geographic Top Level Domain Name (gTLD). Today, the ZACR celebrates its third anniversary as the .africa registry operator, which has added 23000 domain registrations to its profile and continues to grow. This success has been realized through collaborations and partnerships with both local and international Registrars and Resellers (RARs).

“Madiba unlocked our real world freedom 30 years ago while .africa is setting Africans free in cyberspace”.

30 years ago on the same day, Nelson Mandela was released from South Africa’s Victor Verster Prison after 27 years of being incarcerated. Take a moment and reflect on the 11th of February 1990 and the 11th of February 2017 because both events mark an interesting number that defines a journey on two fronts of the continent’s narrative. On the 11th of February 1990 Mandela was released from prison having spent 27 years in prison and the 11th of February 2017 records the delegation of .africa, exactly 27 years after his release. Back then Africa had 54 countries that were members of the African Union and that mathematical number 27 plus 27 leads to a serendipitous moment that must be celebrated and acknowledged as “Happy .Africa Domain Name Day”.

Lucky Masilela, CEO of Registry Africa says “Madiba unlocked our real world freedom 30 years ago while .africa is setting Africans free in cyberspace”. He adds that the .africa domain enables freedom in the virtual world because of the enormous opportunities for advancement that it unlocks.

The launch of the .africa domain name space remains one of the most important African ICT initiatives since the Abuja and Oliver Tambo Declarations a decade ago to resolve the use of ICTs to provide access to cyberspace to one billion Africans. The Declaration saw African Ministers reaffirming the fact that Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) are key to Africa’s development and economic competitiveness and can help attain the African Union’s Vision and Millennium Development Goals.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution will only achieve its stated socio-economic goals if young Africans fully participate in this digital revolution online by registering an appropriate domain. To date, 55 countries in Africa are united under a single, continent-wide domain name of .africa which stays true to the vision of “One Domain Name for the Entire Continent”.