The .africa domain name is expected to launch towards the end of 2013, making it possible for businesses and other organisations to register domain names ending in .africa for the first time.

Donvay Wegierski, director of Werksmans Attorneys and member of its Intellectual Property practice in Stellenbosch, says that the .africa domain was created “by Africans for Africans” and marked Africa’s strides in growth and development.

“It will present an opportunity to identify the African continent online for the first time,” Wegierski says. “We expect many exisiting and new companies across the continent to to take up the .africa domain to show to the world where they are from.”

The procedure to register .africa domain names is yet to be formally disclosed.

However the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the co-ordinator of the launch of the new domain names.

“We expect the .africa domain to launch in two phases – first the Sunrise phase and second the Landrush phase,” Wegierski adds.

During the Sunrise phase, trade mark owners have priority to register .africa domains incorporating their trade marks for a certain period of time.

“It is for this reason that trade mark owners should validate their trade marks at the TradeMark Clearinghouse (TMCH) as only trade mark owners with TMCH validation can take advantage of the Sunrise period,“ Wegierski says.

It is only possible for the TMCH to validate registered trade marks and therefore only proprietors of registered trade marks will have preference.
The Landrush phase will open thereafter and domains can be registered on a first-come-first-serve basis. The .africa registry will be managed by UniForum SA, trading as ZA Central Registry (ZACR). UniForum SA was established as a non-profit organisation in 1988 as a professional association to promote and exchange information on open systems. They are the registry operator for the co.za domain names.

Annual registration costs, Wegierski says, are expected to be reasonable.