The ZA Central Registry’s (ZACR’s) drive earlier this year to encourage Africa’s leading brands to apply for preferential access to their desired .africa domain names proved so successful that it has now opened a second round of applications.
The second phase of the .africa Pioneer Programme opens on 9 June and will run until 23 June to enable business, civil society and other interested parties across the continent to apply for preferred access to approved .africa domains prior to General Availability.
The latter launch phase of the new .africa geographic Top Level Domain (gTLD) is when the general public can register .africa domains from 04 July 2017.
The Pioneer Programme is all about creating interest in Africa’s domain name. “This programme and the interest it generated in the public and private sector really surpassed all of our expectations. It is for this reason that we are reactivating the Pioneer Programme for the month of June,” says Lucky Masilela, CEO of ZACR.
Masilela explains that an approved dotAfrica domain name will enable individuals and organisations to showcase their brand and their commitment to the continent while establishing a home for Africa-specific products and services. The new dotAfrica gTLD enables the acquisition of valuable online real-estate in a fast-growing and high-potential market.
The Pioneer Programme requires applicants to highlight key innovative qualities of their organisations, emphasising their relevance to Africa and their ability to harness the dotAfrica domain name to amplify their brand journey. The applications need to further outline plans to use the domain name to share Africa’s message within the global village.
Successful companies, non-profit organisations, bloggers, celebrities and governments joining the Pioneer Programme will be granted access to the .africa domain of their choosing.
For more information on the .africa Pioneer Programme, visit www.registry.africa
