By MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG – THE ZA Central Registry (ZACR) has reported significant success during the ongoing process to rollout the .africa, the new Top Level Domain (gTLD) for the continent.
ZACR, the non-profit organisation (NPO) currently managing various .za second level domains, said many of the continent’s biggest intellectual property owners across diverse industries have applied, either through the Trade Mark Clearing House (TMCH) or Mark Validation System (MVS), for .africa domain names matching their trademarks.
ZACR confirmed the uptake ahead of the .africa Landrush Phase next Monday.
“The dawning of the Landrush Phase means .africa registration will be open to everyone around the world, without any restriction. This is a key milestone for the African and global Internet community,” Lucky Masilela, Chief Executive Officer of ZACR said.
The imminent approach of the .africa Landrush Phase means that trademark owners only have until midnight on Friday, 02 June 2017 to secure their .africa domain names.
Thereafter, ZA Central Registry NPC (ZACR), the administrator for the .africa gTLD, will not be able to guarantee the availability of .africa domain names matching intellectual property holders’ registered or validated brand names.
.africa will generally be available in July.
The African Union anticipates the .africa to bring the continent together as an internet community under one umbrella, allowing e-commerce, technology and infrastructure to flourish.
It is hailed “as a truly African initiative established by Africans for Africa and the World.”
– Guardian