BID FOR .AFRICA (DOT AFRICA) PASSES INITIAL EVALUATION

Africa is firmly on its way to having its own .africa ("dotAfrica") generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) after Internet governing body ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers) ruled that the ZA Central Registry (ZACR) bid for dotAfrica has passed "Initial Evaluation". The decision was communicated officially on the 12 July, 2013.

The ICANN New gTLD Program Initial Evaluation Report says: "Based on the review of your application (it) has passed Initial Evaluation. The application is eligible to proceed to the next step in the Program." .

The news came on the eve of the 47th ICANN International meeting that took place in Durban from 14-18 July, 2013 with virtually the entire world Internet community represented

"The valued support of the African Union Commission “AUC” has been a key success factor. Our bid for dotAfrica could not have made it this far without the support and encouragement of the AUC," said dotAfrica Steering Committee (SteerCom) Chair Mohammed El Bashir. Over 1800 delegates were attending. .

ICANN holds three international meetings a year across different continents and Durban was chosen to be the host city for its second conference this year. .

The dotAfrica Steercom is a precursor to the establishment of a multi-stakeholder pan-African dotAFRICA Foundation which will drive the execution of the key developmental deliverables in cooperation with the African Union Commission (AUC).

"ICANN 47 is the ideal platform to celebrate this latest milestone on the road towards Africa having its own dedicated home on the web. The dotAfrica domain name extension will be an important online branding platform to promote business and tourism in Africa as it will assist in marketing efforts for the continent,"
The ZACR bid emphasized the importance of developing the greater Internet industry on the African continent as a whole and contributes to the development of Internet Community in Africa

The dotAfrica bid is supported by the different African Internet stakeholders including AUC and national Governments, Civil Society and the Technical community. All are supporting the intention to establish a single domain name that can be used to promote the people, businesses and cultures of Africa on the Internet.

After extensive cross-continental consultation, The African Union Commission has selected Uniform SA/ ZACR through a bid process as the official operator of the dotAfrica registry. UniForum SA/ ZACR is well-known for administering the .co.za domain name environment. It is a non-profit organization that runs the South African domain register. For more information, please visit: AfricaInOneSpace.Org.

ENDS