.africa records 981 registrations during sunrise phase
"The long journey to delegate the rights to administer .africa to the ZACR clearly created a tremendous amount of pent-up demand for Africa's new home on the web," said Lucky Masilela, ZACR CEO. "All good things come to those who wait, Africans have certainly waited, and it's been worth the wait." The ZACR-administered gTLD enjoys the support of the African Union Commission (AUC) and an overwhelming majority of African governments.
Like other registry operators, ZACR monitored and measured the number of intellectual property owners that submitted marks through the global Trade Mark Clearing House (TMCH) and ZACR's own mark validation system (MVS) to ensure protection of priority rights as far as is reasonably possible before .africa is launched to the general public on 4 July 2017.
Registered trademarks
The .africa sunrise period prioritised the securing of valuable brand names in the form of registered trademarks. During this period, brand owners across Africa were encouraged to apply for .africa domain names matching their registered or validated intellectual property.
The new .africa gTLD enables the acquisition of valuable online real estate in a fast-growing and high-potential market. It also enables individuals and organisations to showcase their brands while establishing a home for Africa-specific products and services.
The .africa domain is now at the tail end of the second landrush phase, meaning .africa registrations are now open to everyone around the world, without any restriction.
