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    • .africa

    Generic top-level domainsDNSSEC

    Overview

    .africa is the geographic generic top-level domain (gTLD) created to represent the African continent and pan‑African communities online. The namespace is intended to showcase brands, organisations and individuals connected to Africa, providing a continent-wide digital identity and dedicated online real estate for Africa‑specific products and services.

    • Type: GeoTLD / generic top-level domain (gTLD)
    • Intended use: Sites associated with Africa, pan‑Africanism and the African Union
    • Registry operator: Registry.Africa (ZA Central Registry / ZACR trading as Registry.Africa)
    • DNSSEC: Yes

    History

    • Delegation to the DNS root: delegated in February 2017 (ICANN/IANA delegation noted on 17 Feb 2017).
    • Public/general availability: made available to the public in July 2017 (sources note 1–4 July 2017 dates for launch/public availability).
    • Sponsoring organisation / operator: Registry.Africa (ZA Central Registry / ZACR) is the operator under an ICANN registry agreement.
    • Adoption: The first large corporation to adopt the .africa domain was Absa Group Limited.
    • Registrations: As reported, there were roughly 52,000 registered .africa domains (reported figure in source: ~52,000 registrations from 70 accredited registrars).

    Legal dispute

    • The .africa application process was the subject of prolonged legal and administrative disputes involving DotConnectAfrica (DCA) and ICANN (DCA Trust v. ICANN).
    • An Independent Review Panel (IRP) ruled in July 2015 that ICANN had violated its bylaws in how it handled DCA's application, leading to temporary reinstatement orders and subsequent court actions in U.S. courts during 2016.
    • Despite the disputes and court actions, the final delegation proceeded to Registry.Africa (ZACR) and the gTLD was launched in 2017.

    Usage and Audience

    • Target audience: African governments, businesses, NGOs, pan‑African organisations, cultural initiatives and individuals who want a continent-focused identity.
    • Actual availability: The .africa namespace is open to individuals, businesses and organisations worldwide; registrations are at the second level (example: example.africa).
    • Regional support: The initiative is endorsed by the African Union Commission; Registry.Africa reports significant backing from African governments (source cites 78% support from African governments).

    Registration Rules

    • Eligibility: Open to individuals, organisations and businesses worldwide (intended for Africa-related use but not limited by nationality in the registry information provided).
    • Restrictions: None specified in the sourced material.
    • Structure: Registrations occur at the second level (domain.africa).
    • Policies: Registry policies and the ICANN registry agreement govern registrations (registry maintains published policies).

    SEO and Brand Impact

    • Brand positioning: .africa is positioned as a continental digital identity — useful for signalling commitment to the African market, reinforcing regional presence, and grouping Africa‑focused services and content under a single namespace.
    • Trust and endorsement: Endorsement by the African Union Commission and reported governmental support can strengthen perceived legitimacy and regional trust for brands using the TLD.
    • Search engines: No specific search‑engine ranking guidance or special treatment is reported in the provided sources; the domain is intended primarily for branding and regional identification.

    Notable Cases or Examples

    • Absa Group Limited: cited as the first large corporation to adopt the .africa domain.
    • DotConnectAfrica (DCA) v. ICANN: a high-profile dispute and IRP process that challenged ICANN's handling of competing applications for the .africa gTLD and resulted in litigation and administrative rulings before the final delegation to Registry.Africa.
    • Launch events: .africa was publicly launched at events including an African Union Commission launch in 2017.

    Operator

    ZA Central Registry NPC trading as Registry.Africa

    Whois

    % IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       AFRICA

organisation: ZA Central Registry NPC trading as Registry.Africa
address:      PO Box 4620
address:      Halfway House 1685
address:      South Africa

contact:      administrative
name:         Neil Duncan Dundas
organisation: DNS Africa Ltd
address:      19th Floor Newton Tower
address:      Sir William Newton Street
address:      Port Louis
address:      Mauritius
phone:        +27113140077
fax-no:       +27113140088
e-mail:       icann@registry.net.za

contact:      technical
name:         Theo Kramer
organisation: DNS Africa Ltd
address:      19th Floor Newton Tower
address:      Sir William Newton Street
address:      Port Louis
address:      Mauritius
phone:        +27115682800
fax-no:       +27115681492
e-mail:       icann@registry.net.za

nserver:      COZA1.DNSNODE.NET 194.146.106.74 2001:67c:1010:18:0:0:0:53
nserver:      NS.COZA.NET.ZA 2001:43f8:30:0:0:0:0:200 206.223.136.200
nserver:      NS4.DNS.NET.ZA 2a01:3f0:0:314:0:0:0:53 77.72.229.251
ds-rdata:     51115 8 2 53248d4d36757a31135688efa42c2c307591a7989523e6cd9cc2441414349481

whois:        whois.nic.africa

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://nic.africa

created:      2017-02-11
changed:      2025-08-05
source:       IANA

    Registrars