South Africans don’t need to wait to register .Africa domain names in their own currency after domains.co.za unveiled its rand-based pricing this week.
The .Africa gTLD (generic Top Level Domain) was released during the General Availability Phase on a first-come, first-served basis to the general public on 4 July 2017.
Until now, the pricing from the Registry has been costly. However, costs have dropped and .Africa domains are now far more affordable for SMEs wanting to purchase and use .Africa domains to start or grow their businesses into African markets.
Anyone can register a new .Africa domain on the domains.co.za website. Standard domain names are R350; thereafter, the annual domain renewal fee will be R250 per annum.
“As most countries in Africa do not have automated domain registration systems, domain registrations usually default to the international .com TLD, which is US-based. The new .Africa gTLD is designed to promote the continent’s entrepreneurial spirit going forward and enhance the economic community of Africa and support its growth,” says Wayne Diamond, CEO of domains.co.za.
With Africa being touted as the world’s fastest growing economic marketplace, future business growth should be aimed firmly at this promising continent. Business wanting to positively impact the African marketplace can now engage from a domain name foundation that advertises their patriotic stance by registering their company, brand or trademark with a .Africa domain name, he says.
“.Africa now gives us an opportunity to encourage not only South African, but other African countries’ business owners to unite under one ‘continental-brand’ domain (.Africa) and lead the drive toward stating Africa’s economic standpoint to the rest of the world.
“Securing one’s chosen .Africa domain as soon as possible is also the best way of preventing intellectual property disputes and potential attempts at online fraud,” adds Diamond.
Domains.co.za is a South African ICANN-accredited domains registrar, SSD website hosting and SSD cloud provider.