Nigeria has moved up to second place in Africa’s domain name industry, according to the latest study commissioned by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in partnership with PowerSoft Africa.
Similarly, the Africa Country Code Top Level Domains report shows 4.33 million registrations in November 2023 and an additional 1.4 million generic top level domain registrations from African entities.
Covering 54 countries in Africa, the ICANN report released by the Digital Africa Coalition at ICANN80 in Kigali, Rwanda, shows that the high cost of Internet access continues to limit widespread use, with the average African spending around 4% of his monthly income on 1 GB. of data – double the global affordability target.
Also, the projected average annual overall growth in the number of domain names across the continent is 12.4%, indicating significant opportunities for local providers in individual countries.
In terms of infrastructure, the report said that over 1.1 million kilometers of terrestrial and undersea fiber optic cables interconnect the continent, enhancing cross-border communications and Internet access, and a significant concentration of web content and domain hosting remains in just a few countries, highlighting the need for more local Internet service.
On Nigeria, the report shows that “as with South Africa and Kenya, Nigeria has many submarine cables. The ccTLD is doing well as there are now six IXPs and multiple data centers.
Nigeria’s biggest asset is its huge population and large economy. Nigeria has the largest number of internet users on the continent. Coming in just behind Kenya in the number of ccTLD domains, but ahead of gTLD domains, Nigeria also scores highly out of its six IXPs.
Speaking at the launch of the report, ICANN Interim President and CEO Sally Costerton said the report sheds light on the growth, challenges and opportunities in the Domain Name System (DNS) across Africa.
“Building on the original study conducted in 2016, this study provides critical insights into how the landscape has evolved and where it is headed. The study is an integral part of ICANN’s commitment to support the growth and development of the Internet infrastructure, namely the DNS infrastructure, in a highly dynamic area. It was also created in response to a request from the African community as part of the implementation of the ICANN Africa Regional Plan for the financial years 2021-2025.”
Costerton said the recommendations focus on key areas such as infrastructure development, regulatory adjustments and capacity building, which are vital to realizing the full potential of the DNS industry in Africa.
According to a recent NiRA report, the .ng domain name, Nigeria’s country code top-level domain (ccTLD), has surpassed 215,000 registrations.
Commenting on the report, the president of the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Adesola Akinsanya, expressed satisfaction with the development trajectory of Nigerian domain names.
According to him, the report reflects the efforts of NiRA and other stakeholders, especially registrars, to deepen the country’s DNS industry.
In his words, “the study that was done on the DNS industry in Africa and I know of the first edition in which Nigeria was not even in the top three. Today, we are number two in Africa. It shows that the efforts of NiRA, both past and present EBoD and secretariat staff, together with registrars, are having an impact. The study also shows the registry’s commitment to ensuring that best practices in the DNS industry are followed.
“Secondly, this is a continental rating. it is not we who praise ourselves. The message we (NiRA) have for the DNS community in Nigeria is that we have no other country. So .NG is our collective passport to the digital space. From businesses, web developer community, registrars, businesses and individuals adopting .NG, we applaud your efforts. We can do more, because we are not the first yet. There are many reasons for coverage. So let’s push for more adoption of .NG while facing all the necessary challenges along the way.”
Managing Director of Smartweb Nigeria Limited, Murtala Abdullahi, one of the NiRA registrars, said the report shows increased acceptance of the .NG brand, adding that the country is privileged to have a huge population with many individuals and businesses showing interest in the .NG domain name.
On his part, Chief Strategy Advisor, DigitalSENSE Africa Media, Sir Remmy Nweke, said he was happy that the efforts of both NiRA BOT and EBoD are paying off, stressing the need for more initiatives to drive .NG adoption in the country. He said: “I am excited in the sense that although we are not there yet, we are making steady progress. So it is a way of encouragement that the study turned out positively for us. And I’m sure we’ll continue to work together to make sure that everything is in line to make sure that even if it’s next year, or in the years to come that we do this exercise again, there have to be improvements in adoption of the Internet, local hosting and other variables.
According to the report, Google indexes a total of 44.3 million websites in the .NG domain, a significant increase from 16 million in the year under review.