.africa domains
Status: Delegated
.africa domain goals
The goals of the new .africa domains are the following:
- Improve the online presence of Africa on the Internet.
- Permit the visitors of .africa domains to obtain information about Africa in an easy manner, open to the rest of the World.
- Thanks to the new digital space that Africa will offer, it will permit a better digital communication with their citizens, opening new contact, information and entertainment ways.
Who are they for and who can register .africa domains?
To be able to register .africa domains it's necessary to satisfy some requirements because it's an extension focused on the local area, this is the reason why they will only be able to be registered by private persons or companies related to Africa.
Because of this, it is necessary to satisfy some of the following points:
- Have a residence in Africa.
- Have commercial interests or conduct lawful business in Africa.
- Carry out socio-cultural activities in Africa or any other type of local presence in Africa.
Information about availability
The published information is not binding, it can be wrong in case of changes at Registry level or at the ICANN request, we recommend to check the official information published at the icann.org site.
Extension application
New domain extensions are requested by entities interested in their management, this requests are processed by ICANN in an individual manner and can be accepted or withdrawn by multiple reasons.
One extension can have more than one applicant, in this case there would be an auction between the interested parties, this process doesn't affect the final registrant, who will make the domain registration directly with an accredited domain registrar like MrDomain once the extension has been launched.
Registration phases
| Phase | Date | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 04/04/2017 - 03/06/2017 | N/A |
| Landrush | Not available | N/A |
| Pre-registration | Not available | N/A |
| Open registration | Not available | N/A |
There are multiple procedures before and during the launch phase of new gTLDs, during every one of them the domains can be registered or reserved by the different interested parties, depending on their relation with the extension, because of registered trademarks or at the moment of the final launch of the domain extension. Below you'll find the different phases the extension will pass before the open registration.
Pioneer Name
The Pioneer Name program permits the assignation of some domains to the applicant that finally manages the extension, thanks to this it will be possible to reserve or block certain domains before the registrants can opt for them.
Sunrise
The Sunrise phase permits trademark holders to obtain their domain before the domain launch, if more than one interested party requests the domain an auction will be held between them.
It's important to know that the domain must be an exact match of the registered trademark, only requests that have passed the Trademark Clearinghouse can opt for this (more information).
Landrush
During the Landrush phase the interested parties that didn't opt for the previous phase will be able access the domain registration before the domain extension launch.
Pre-registration
The pre-registration process of a domain permits you to reserve a slot between the first registration requests we will make at the moment of the extension opening. Thanks to this the probability to obtain your domain is higher than doing it manually, you must note that we'll send hundreds of requests per second.
Open Registration
From this moment on the domain registration under this extension will be open, being able to be registered by any interested parties.
Our support team will be happy to help you with any questions you may have before you take your first step into the digital world.
Where to start?
The first step for your new project is to search for an available domain.
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