Updated: African Nations with Active National ICT Plans
Last updated: January 2012. Twenty-six African nations appear to have a recent/current ICT plan. Approximately 60% of these plans are official active through at least 2011. Read Further
Algeria
.DZ is the country code Top Level domain(ccTLD) for Algeria. The ccTLD registry for Algeria is NIC.dz, a subdivision of CERIST (Centre de Recherche sur l'Information Scientifique et Technique). To apply for a .dz domain name, one must be an organization with a permanent presence in Algeria, and choose a name of three or more letters. Domains cost $14 . NIC.dz registry website is here
View IANA record for .DZ
Angola
.AO is the ccTLD for Angola. It was delegated to Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade Agostinho Neto as the Sponsoring Organization. Domains can be registered in the third level of the .ao namespace. Some of the Second Level domains(SLDs) include CO.AO - For commercial institutions, seated in Angola; ED.AO - For educational institutions, seated in Angola; GV.AO - For governmental institutions, seated in Angola; IT.AO - For international institutions, seated outside Angola; OG.AO - For any other organisations, seated in Angola; PB.AO - Sub-Domain for publishing, seated in Angola. DNS Angola is the first Angolan Domain name registrar and is also the registry for the second level domain names.IT.AO and .CO.AO
.AO Registry URL http://www.dns.ao/ IANA delegation records http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ao.html
Benin
.BJ is the ccTLD for Benin. The Sponsoring Organization is the Offices des Postes et Telecommunications The IANA delegation data can be viewed here http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/bj.html The Registry URL is here http://www.nic.bj/
Botswana
Managed by Botswana Telecommunications Corporation, BTC with the University of Botswana as the Sponsoring Organization. Botswana Telecommunications Corporation operates a WHOIS service for .bw domains. Policy paper on reforming the ccTLD recently released and can be read here
A list of all policies on .bw domain space, including past policies can be found here: http://www.bta.org.bw/cctld/policies
Burkina Faso
.BF domains currently administered by ARCE-AutoritÈ de RÈgulation des Communications Electroniques based in Burkina Fasso. The Technical contact is Burkina Fasso's Office National des TÈlÈcommunications.
.BF IANA records can be found here http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/bf.html
.BF Registry website fully functional and can be found here: .BF Registry website
Burundi
This was initially managed by US based Network Startup Resource Center. In mid 2002 it moved local under the leadership of Victor Ciza, with the cost changing to 100 Euros per two years.
The .BI ccTLD is currently administered by the Burundi National Center of Information Technology and has a very liberal registration policy and anyone can register a .bi domain although registration numbers are still quite low, probably due to the fact that Burundi is an impoverished nation. The registry website is NIC.bi:
http://www.nic.bi/
IANA delegation records http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/bi.html
Cameroon
Cameroon Telecommunications(CAMTEL) is the Sponsor organization and registry operator. In 2006, the .CM Registry set up a wild card DNS record for all unregistered.CM domains in partnership with Canadian domain investor Kevin Ham that redirected traffic on all unregistered domains to a parking page with PPC ads, agoga.com. Subsequent .CM auctions generated millions of dollars in revenues. Recently, McAfee designated .CM as the riskiest namespace with 36.7% of .CM websites posing a security risk to web users. NetCom.cm is the technological partner for the management of .CM registry for the second and third level domains. Several foreign domain registrars have been .CM accredited registrars.
Registry website http://www.camnet.cm
NetCom website: https://netcom.cm
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/cm.html
Cape Verde Islands
.CV ccTLD domain Administered by Agência Nacional das Comunicações (ANAC). Could be re-purposed as a TLD for online career profiles (e.g. www.careers.cv) the same way Montenegro's .me domain has been re-purposed for personal branding and personal online profiles :)
Several websites using .cv domains on the web and it also has one of the best registry websites.
Registry website: http://www.dns.cv/ (Portuguese)
Sponsor Organization website http://www.anac.cv
IANA delegation data http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/cv.html
Central African Republic
.CF ccTLD Domain administered by Societe Centrafricaine de Telecommunications (SOCATEL) of the Central African Republic.
Registry website http://www.socatel.intnet.cf/(Website does not resolve)
IANA Delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/cf.html
Chad
.TD ccTLD administered by Société des télécommunications du Tchad (SOTEL TCHAD).
Registry website is here(done in in 1998 HTML) http://www.groupe-soteltchad.td/
Comoros Islands
.km ccTLD administered by Comores Telecom.
Sponsor Organization website http://www.comorestelecom.km/
Registry Website http://www.domaine.km/
IANA Delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/km.html
The Democratic Republic of Congo
Localised (from Network Startup Resource Center to Swiss based technology under ownership Interpoint SARL, see more at http://www.nic.cd) in June 2001. Interesting model for all CD (Compact Disk) related business. Operating as a registry so prices are set by global market and vary by registrar.
IANA Delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/cd.html
Congo Republic
.CG delegated to a Swiss company ONPT Congo and Interpoint Switzerland owned by a Swiss citizen of Congolese descent. Free for citizens and residents! 200 Swiss francs registration and 350 Swiss francs per annum for non-residents.
Registry Website http://www.nic.cg/
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/cg.html
Cote d'Ivoire
Registry website http://www.nic.ci/
IANA Delegation record: http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ci.html
Egypt
Eritrea
.ER ccTLD Currently delegated to Eritrea Telecommunication Services Corporation (EriTel). Registry currently operating on closed model although could prove popular with web users, domain hackers, with so many English and many German words having .er suffix.
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/er.html
Registry website http://www.tse.com.er/
Ethiopia
.ET ccTLD currently delegated to Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation. One of the most expensive ccTLD domains with domains costing over $200 per year.
Sponsor Organization website http://www.telecom.net.et/
Registry Website http://www.ethionet.et/
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/et.html
Equitorial Guinea
.GQ ccTLD. Text email application form linked, unclear on cost 10,000 XAF (~US$18) is mentioned for monthly as is 150,000 XAF (~US$270)
Registry Website http://www.getesa.gq/
Gabon
Ghana
.GH ccTLD delegated to the Network Computer Systems Limited.
IANA Delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/gh.html
Registry website http://www.ghana.com
Guinea
Delegated to Centre National des Sciences Halieutiques de Boussoura and administered by UNICEF.
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/gn.html
Registry Website : http://www.psg.com/dns/gn/
Guinea Bissau
.GW ccTLD delegated to Fundação IT & MEDIA Universidade de Bissao. Registry backend is run by German registry DENIC.
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/gw.html
Registry Website http://www.register.gw
Kenya
The .KE ccTLD is operated by KENIC a not for profit organization with its members drawn from Private and Public sectors of the Kenyan Internet community. KENIC has adopted a registry/registrar model with the registrars drawn from Kenyan based companies. Domain registration pricing is per annum at Kshs 2320 (~US$23). Registrations are closed to residents in Kenya.
Registry Website http://www.kenic.or.ke
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ke.html
Lesotho
.LS ccTLD delegated to the National University of Lesotho.
It is not possible to register a new second-level domain in .ls. New registrations are only taken at the third level, below one of the existing second level domains
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ls.html
Registry Website http://www.co.ls/
Liberia
.LR ccTLD delegated to Data Technology Solutions, Inc.
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/lr.html
Registry website http://www.psg.com/dns/lr/
Libya
Registry website http://www.nic.ly/
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ly.html
Madagascar
.MG delegated to NIC-MG (Network Information Center Madagascar)
Registry website http://www.nic.mg
IANA delegation record: http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/mg.html
Malawi
This was a long political story that had impact on the Internet industry in Malawi Seems to have been stabilised by redelegation to Malawi Sustainable Development Network Programme in October 2002. Click here to see historic discussions.
The current pricing is US$100 registration and $50 renewal per annum. Register at http://www.registrar.mw, a site with well communicated detail.
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/mw.html
Mali
Currently undergoing a "friendly redelegation".
Registry website: http://www.sotelma.ml/
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ml.html
Mauritania
.MR ccTLD currently delegated to University of Nouakchott
Registry website http://www.univ-nkc.mr/nic_mr.html
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/mr.html
Mauritius
.MU ccTLD currently delegated to Internet Direct Limited.
Registry Website http://www.nic.mu
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/mu.html
Mayotte
.YT ccTLD is administered by the French registry AFNIC.
Registry website: http://www.afnic.fr http://www.nic.fr
Morocco
.MA ccTLD delegated Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications (ANRT). Healthy number of domain registrations in the .ma namespace. Morocco also has one of the five ICANN Accredited Registrars in Africa, Genious Communications.
ANRT was designated in 2006 by ICANN as Administrator of the ccTLD “.ma” (Contry Code Top Level Domain) namespace. The company is "waiting" to reorganize the management of the “.ma” domain, ANRT has appointed Maroc Telecom as interim technical registry which put in place the web site Nic.ma for public information.more information about ".ma" domains
Registry Website : http://www.domain.ma/
IANA delegation record: http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ma.html
Mozambique
.MZ ccTLD delegated to Centro de Informatica de Universidade Eduardo Mondlane
Registrations are at the third level beneath the second-level names adv.mz,ac.mz, co.mz, org.mz, gov.mz and edu.mz.
Registry website: http://www.uem.mz
IANA delegation records: http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/mz.html
Namibia
The .NA ccTLD was delegated to Namibian Network Information centre and run by Dr. Eberhard Lisse. seems to be having problems of late regarding governance and management model.
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/na.html
Registry Website http://www.na-nic.com.na/
Niger
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ne.html
Registry website: http://www.sonitel.ne/
Nigeria
IANA delegation record: http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ng.html
Registry Website http://www.nira.org.ng/
Domain Promotions Website http://www.switchto.ng/
Reunion
.RE Registry is run by the Registry AFNIC. Closed registry model with registrations allowed only for organizations within and individuals within the Reunion.
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/re.html
Registry Website: http://www.afnic.fr http://www.register.re/
Rwanda
.RW ccTLD was delegated to NIC Congo - Interpoint SARL, a Swiss company run by a Swiss of Congolese descent. Has been undergoing a redelegation battle for 6 years for the repatriation of the management of the ccTLD to Rwanda. The Rwanda ICT Association (RICTA) is poorly funded and has been unable to finance the setup of the registry management and technical infrastructure.
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/rw.html
Registry Website http://www.nic.rw/
Saint Helena
Sao Tome and Principe
.ST ccTLD delegated to Tecnisys based in Sao Tome and Principe. Also called the "Street Domain", it is one of the more popular ccTLD with a very impressive commercial model. Taking into consideration the popular English suffix "ST", the .ST registry has integrated an English dictionary search tool into the ST Registry website to allow registrants to easily locate and register the so called "domain hacks" of popular English words ending in ST like. Registry is managed by the German company Bahnhof as the technical partner.
.ST Domain Registry website http://www.nic.st/
.ST IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/st.html
Senegal
.SN domains delegated to Universite Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar.
Registry website http://www.nic.sn/
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/sn.html
Seychelles
.SC Top Level Domain Name Registry for the Seychelles Islands operated by VCS (Pty) Ltd.
IANA delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/sc.html
.SC Registry website
Sierra Leone
.SL ccTLD delegated to Sierratel
IANA Delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/sl.html
Registry website: https://www.nic.sl/
Somalia
.SO ccTLD was redelegated to the Transitional Federal Government(TFG) of Somalia's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications after a deal was struck between TFG and the Japanese registry services provider GMO Registry of the GMO Internet, Japan Conglomerate during the ICANN meeting in Nairobi. Registry infrastructure is based in Japan and the .so domains have proved popular with web users with over 30,000 domains registered so far. Registry operates on open model and anyone across the globe can register .so domains.
.SO Registry website http://www.registry.so
.SO IANA Delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/so.html
South Africa
Was redelegated to ZADNA. The most successful ccTLD domain with over 700,000 domains registered in the entire namespace.
.za Registry website http://www.zadna.org.za/
.co.za Registry website http://www.uniforum.org.za/
.org.za Registry website http://www.org.za/
.nom.za Registry Website http://www.nom.za/
.ac.ca Registry Website http://protea.tenet.ac.za/cgi/cgi_domainquery.exe
IANA Delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/za.html
Sudan
2006: Sudan Internet Society "SIS" manages and maintains the ccTLD. Various options are available, prices range from $50 - $100 per annum. Appears to be healthy.
Registry website http://www.isoc.sd/
IANA Delegation Record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/sd.html
Swaziland
The Swaziland ISP Association ("SISPA") is responsible for assigning domain names in the .SZ namespace of the Internet. Closed registry model of operation with only individuals and entities in Swaziland eligible for registration.
Registry Website http://www.sispa.org.sz
IANA Delegation Record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/sz.html
Tanzania
Tanzania Network Information Centre (tzNIC) is the Internet registry for .tz domain names.
Registry website http://www.tznic.or.tz/
IANA Delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/tz.html
Togo
.TG Registry website http://www.nic.tg/
IANA Delegation Record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/tg.html
Tunisia
Administered by Tunisia Telecommunications Agency ATI. Registry doing well with a healthy number of domain registrations.
IANA Delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/tn.html
Registry Website http://www.ati.tn/ar/home.php http://www.registre.tn
Uganda
The domain is administered by Charles Musisi under the following guiding policies: US$50.00 per annum, must be operating in Uganda, must be used within 3 months: Top Level Domain-ug, Second Level -ac(academic), co (corporate),or (organisation),go (government body).
.UG Registry website http://www.registry.co.ug/
.UG IANA Delegation Record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ug.html
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory, in turn it has no country code top-level domain (ccTLD), but .eh is reserved for that purpose.
These letters correspond to "Sáhara Español" (ESH, as Western Sahara was previously called Spanish Sahara) and also match Saguia el-Hamra, one of two provinces in the earlier Spanish Sahara.
IANA has no sponsoring organizations assigned to this domain. On August 1, 2007, an international consortium made a bid to the IANA to administer the .eh domain on behalf of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.Morocco, an occupying power, has made competing claims to the domain.
Zambia
.ZM ccTLD delegated to ZAMNET Communication Systems Limited.
IANA Delegation Record: http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/zm.html
.ZM Registry website http://www.zamnet.zm/
Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe Domain Name Registry services are provided by Zimbabwean Internet Service Providers Association, ZISPA. Users can only register third level domain names in the .ZW namespace. The potential registrant must specify the name of the domain to be registered and the name of the ISP nominated to register the domain on their behalf in the .ZW namespace, eg a letter to the ISP saying "Please register the following domain for our company/myself" The Zimbabwean Registry is managed by a group of ISPs who do this on a voluntary basis.Registration is quite healthy with over 30,000 .zw domains registered.
IANA Delegation record http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/zw.html
