Nigeria emerges 2nd in Africa’s domain name industry as registrations top 4.33 million

Joy Agwunobi 

Nigeria’s digital footprint has expanded significantly, propelling the country to the second place in the African domain name industry, as revealed by a recent study conducted by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in partnership with PowerSoft Africa.

The study, which was aimed at examining the status of the African domain name industry, found that Nigeria’s position had significantly improved, ranking only second to South Africa in the continent.

Just like a passport or a flag, a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) serves as an online identifier for a nation.

For instance, .ng stands for Nigeria, .za represents South Africa, .ke is for Kenya, and .gh identifies Ghana, providing a unique and culturally relevant internet address that reflects each country’s online presence.

These ccTLDs are not just a technical aspect of the internet but also a symbol of national pride and identity, contributing to the digital economy and helping to bridge the digital divide.

ICANN’s 2023 Africa Domain Name Industry Study, unveiled at the ICANN80 conference in Kigali, Kenya, highlighted the significant increase in the number of registered domain names under African country code top-level domains (ccTLDs).

According to the report, the number of African ccTLD domains rose to 4.33 million, indicating a considerable boost in the region’s digital presence.

The latest edition of ICANN’s Africa Domain Name Industry Study, conducted in collaboration with Powersoft Africa and the Coalition for Digital Africa, dwelled on the dynamic and evolving landscape of the African Domain Name System (DNS).

The report highlighted Africa’s impressive average annual growth rate of 12.4 per cent in domain name registrations, pointing towards a bright future for the continent’s digital landscape.

This positive trend is further reinforced by the expanding network of fibre cables, which have brought over 1.1 million kilometres of high-speed connectivity to Africa, facilitating seamless cross-border communication and enabling wider access to the internet.

The report also revealed that as of November 2023, African entities had registered an additional 1.4 million generic top-level domain (gTLD) names, demonstrating an increasing desire to establish a stronger online presence and engage with the digital world.

Despite the encouraging growth in domain name registrations, the cost of internet access continues to hinder the full realization of Africa’s digital potential, with high costs posing a significant barrier to widespread adoption.

According to the report, the average African spends approximately 4 percent of their monthly income to purchase 1GB of data, highlighting the significant financial burden associated with accessing the internet in many parts of the continent.

The report further highlighted Nigeria’s strong internet infrastructure, placing the country on par with other African powerhouses, South Africa and Kenya, in terms of connectivity. With multiple undersea cables, six Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), and a growing number of data centres, Nigeria’s internet infrastructure was described as robust and well-developed, enabling high-speed internet access and reliable communication.

Adesola Akinsanya, president of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA),

expressed pleasure at Nigeria’s domain name growth, crediting NiRA stakeholders, and registrars for their efforts. He stated that the report highlights progress in deepening Nigeria’s DNS industry, with the country now ranking second in Africa.

 Akinsanya also acknowledged the contributions of past and present NiRA boards, secretariat staff, and registrars, emphasising the registry’s commitment to best practices in the DNS industry while also pointing out that the rating was a continental one and not self-praise.

“.NG is our collective passport in the digital space. From businesses, web developer community, registrars, businesses and individuals adopting .NG, we salute your efforts. We can do more, because we are not the first yet. There are lots of grounds to cover. So, let’s push for more adoption of the .NG while we tackle all necessary challenges on the way,”he added.

Commenting on the report, Busayo Balogun, head of corporate services at NiRA, announced the launch of a dashboard providing real-time updates on .ng domain name registrations.  She noted that the dashboard shows the .ng domains have increased to 225,533 from 222,820 reported earlier in the year while noting that the .ng domain name has continued to garner popularity in usage for websites and email addresses.

Balogun explained further that NiRA operates through a 3R model – Registry, Registrar, Registrant – whereby it contracts over 100 registrars to provide registration services to the public. She stated  that an end user selects a registrar to register their chosen domain, and NiRA does not directly register users, emphasising that this model has helped maintain order and decorum in the registration process.

Murtala Abdullahi, CEO of Smartweb Nigeria Limited, a NiRA registrar, stated that the report indicates a growing acceptance of the .NG brand. He noted that Nigeria’s large population and increasing interest in the .NG domain name are advantages.

Abdullahi observed that, unlike two years ago when .com.ng was more popular, there is now a shift towards .NG, with more registrations for .ng than .com. He attributed this shift to a better understanding of the value of .ng, including its optimisation and SEO benefits, as well as price competitiveness, with .ng being cheaper than .com

Remmy Nweke, lead consulting strategist at DigitalSENSE Africa Media and a prominent advocate for .NG, expressed his delight at the progress made, attributing it to the efforts of NiRA BOT and EBoD. He emphasised the need for more champions to promote .NG adoption in Nigeria.

Nweke stated that, although there is still work to be done, the positive report is encouraging, and he looks forward to continued collaboration to drive progress in internet adoption, local hosting, and other areas, anticipating improvements in the next few years.

He stated further that .ng is a national brand, and encouraged all Nigerians to support it by registering at least one domain name for personal or business use. Nweke also urged users to share their experiences and stories about using .ng domains, and to report any issues to NiRA for prompt resolution.