Waudo,
I see your viewpoint but think differently.

I have a company called Posix Systems (posix.co.za). I also registered "posix.systems" at the first opportunity!
Posix LogoIn my logo - I have the word "Posix" on top of a map of Africa. This is where my dreams are - to be all over Africa. I have the Domains "posixafrica.com" and used to have "posix.africa.com". When dotAfrica happens, I hope to get "posix.africa" - and probably drop the "posixafrica.com" name.

("africa" will probably bite into the "com" business rather than the ccTLD business)

 I'm in South Africa, but not in Durban, CapeTown or Joburg, so none of these names really appealed to me - I have larger dreams.
As an ISP (not located in one small area) - and my name being "Posix Africa" - the dotAfrica domain really makes sense to me.

I personally expect that a lot of companies who operate in multiple African locations will go for a dotAfrica domain - thinking aggregation rather than granularly.

I have a South African TradeMark on Posix and the corresponding SMD (Signed Mark Data) token - which means I should be able to get my name earlier in the Sunrise process in the launch of dotAfrica.
https://www.registry.net.za/launch.php?gen=1&contentid=120&title=ZACR%20Rights%20Protection%20and%20Mark%20Validation

So yesterday, ICANN had the name "africa" "added" to the IANA root. I say "added" as there are not yet nameservers but its obvious that ICANN is getting ready to complete the delegation to the ZACR.
http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/africa

As far as I am aware, all new gTLDs go through a Sunrise (for trademarks) and Landrush (for the best names) process followed by some time later by General Availability. As the ZACR already has three gTLDs under their belt, I expect this process to go smoothly.

Anyway - I'm thinking big.


On 12/02/2017 13:22, waudo siganga via kictanet wrote:
Hi Kivuva - it's all speculation but in the coming future I see (using your examples) more of Nakumatt.store or Nakumatt.shop,  Equity.bank, AGOA.trade, Dangote.cement etc. If geographic identity would be so crucial then I would rather expect more granulation rather than aggregation to indicate a registrant's location:  Nakumatt.tz, Nakumatt.ug, Nakumatt.ng, Nakumatt.nairobi, Nakumatt.eldoret, Nakumatt.kawangware etc.
 
.Africa to me is an overrated expectation; once in a while in the IT world we get this kind of thing that is pushed with excitement as a game-changer or big bang but eventually turns out to be much ado about nothing as well as having no demonstrable benefit to the common man walking on the street.
 
W.
 
 
On Sat, Feb 11, 2017, at 05:27 PM, Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet wrote:

There is an obvious worry by ccTLDs that  this new string will steal business from them. But that view is unfounded.

.Africa will attract brands that perceive themselves as African centric... For example  East African Community will not need to use .int domain. Some other brands are East Africa IGF, Africa IGF, NEPAD, AGOA, Dangote, Nakumatt, Equity bank, (insert here any regional or Global brand). This space is not controlled by ccTLDs, but by gTLDs like .com .net .org and .biz

There will also be domainers who will run after dictionary names, and African names which are adword friendly, and which are easy to squat on. This will be good for the administrators of .AFRICA because they will get the much needed revenue to cover their costs, especially now that the legal battle may have taken them on a financial marathon. I cannot even imagine the value of Safari.africa, but I'm damn sure the ZACRA guys have already put that domain on premium sunrise application. There is no cause for worry because the .africa string went through the Trade Mark Protection period some years back. I remember Alice Munyua leading this process on this platform for protecting Kenyan based trademarks and heritage.

I've been in the DNS industry for more than a decade, and I know what I'm saying. And I say :-)

 
On Feb 11, 2017 4:08 PM, "Dorcas Muthoni via kictanet" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
When are we likely to be able to use. africa,  I am definitely interested in this. 
 
On Feb 11, 2017 12:18, "Ali Hussein via kictanet" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Waudo
 
My take is this:-
 
1. From a corporate perspective the idea is not to necessarily make money but for defensive registration to protect the brand. Like .google or .coke etc.
 
2. For Geo Domains the attraction is obvious. Whether they will make money or not is up in the air and depends on Positioning. Something that the DNS Community needs to learn.

My business sense though tells me that this space hasn't even been scratched yet. In a series of Capacity Building Seminars that ICANN held in 2015 through 2016 for the DNS Sector in Africa it became obvious that:-
 
a) The space is virgin territory in terms of being exploited 
b) Marketing and online fulfillment is an area that requires great attention
c) That ICANN is committed to helping the sector grow and realize its potential
 
We in the sector need to do our part and sensitize all players to come to the table.
 
There's more to real estate than a plot in Kitengela. There are prime positions to be had online.. :-). 
 
Ali Hussein
Principal
Hussein & Associates
 

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."  ~ Aristotle
 
 
Sent from my iPad

On 11 Feb 2017, at 9:37 AM, waudo siganga via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
 
someone needs to take me on a 101 course why there is so much rumpus about these new gTLDs, especially the geos. Will they break even/make money? Already ZACR has 3 other geo nTLDs in South Africa but the registrations as shown at ntldstats.com seem pretty modest. Multichoice had registered around 6 dotbrands with fancy names like .supersport and .africamagic all at $185,000 each but appears to have come to a brick wall and bolted to cut the losses. Maybe I'm missing something. If so please bring me up to date.
 
W.
 
On Sat, Feb 11, 2017, at 12:27 AM, Grace B via kictanet wrote:
The news is being received with measured optimism.
 
2017-02-10 11:30 GMT+03:00 Barrack Otieno via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>:

Listers

Fyi

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Rinalia Abdul Rahim" <rinalia.abdulrahim@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 10, 2017 10:59 AM
Subject: [ALAC] .africa news
To: "ALAC Working List" <alac@atlarge-lists.icann.org>
 
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