BY SOPHIA BEKELE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
FORMER POLICY ADVISOR, ICANN
DOTCONNECTAFRICA
.Africa
AITEC Africa: Lagos Nigeria
The New Internet Currency
1. Principles of Intenet currency
2. Entrepreneurship
3. The need for Africa Specific Regional Domain
4. Who is DotConnectAfrica?
5. How do u get involved, aside from being a
consumer? - Sponsoring Member
6. Governance Representation & Community
7. Interested sponsors
8. Who is ICANN?
9. Status of “.Africa”
10.Next Step for you!
• Africa
• Africa
Principles of Integration
- Common Market
- Intra-trade
- Local capacity Building (Individual/institutional)
- Stable Business Environment
- Sharing best practices
- Identify common threats
• Africa
A Common VisionVision without action is a daydream.
Action without vision is a nightmare.
Japanese Proverb
• Africa
What drives regional integration
• will always be governments setting the
policy frameworks for an open market;
• allow for regional and global cooperation
in order to create opportunities for
private sector organizations could
flourish
• Africa
Key to speedy success
• Common Vision
• Entrepreneurship
• Breeding of Black Swans
• Continental Integration of our economies
• Africa
Entrepreneurship
=
Opportunity
=
Accelerated
Development
CBS International
The Black Swan
The Platonic fold - the explosive boundary where
the Platonic mindset enters in contact with
messy reality, where the gap between what you
know and what you think you know becomes
dangerously wide. • Africa
Your Mobile African Identity
paynet.africa aitec.africa mobilemoney.africa
lagos.africasafaricom.africa tourism.africa Si.africa
sunmicro.africa pesapal.africa misys.africa
copycat.africa sevenseas.africaUnitedBank.africa
visa.africa
COMESA.africa ecobank.africa
chamberofcommerce.africa
citibank.africa Iveri.africa
biggame.africa
Renaissance capital.africa webtribe.africa
Cybercrime.africa allafrica.africa
KDN.africa
wildlife.africa icann.africa banking.africa
microfinance.africa cooking.africa shoes.africa
Intrepid Data.africa mobicash.africa
USAID.afri gatesfoundation.afric dgi.africa.africa 2030.africa
GrameenFoundation.africa
africanunion.africapowered b DotConnectAfrica
• Africa
• Currently, Internet users in the Pan-Africa and
African region only have the option of utilizing a
generic TLD (gTLD) whose registrants are dominated
by US and European individuals and businesses, or
country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) that are intended for
local use
• Current gTLDs also tend to focus on a vertical group
(e.g. commercial entities, network providers,
organizations , etc.) within the global Internet,
“.Africa” will embrace a horizontal perspective with
a clear brand to reach and enrich the broad global
community.• Africa
Need for Africa-specific regional domain
• Unlike ccTLDs, which provide for a local audience,
“.Africa” will allow the user to express membership in
the larger Pan African and African community.
• “.Africa” domain will also allow Africa to take its
rightful place alongside .EU, .ASIA and .LAC
• Also it complies with WSIS objectives on empowering
undeveloped countries using ICT, and fits as an ICT4D
project.
• “.Africa” complies with AU, ECA and ADB policy of
development for the continent. • Africa
Need for Africa-specific regional domain
• Generate demand-driven research relevant
to practical policy issues
• Facilitate cross-border knowledge sharing
and research partnerships with key
knowledge end-users.
• Enhance regional identity and global
presence
Need for Africa-specific regional domain
• Africa
The DotConnecAfrica Organization
• DotConnectAfrica Organization is to be the
Sponsoring Organization and Registry Operator for
the .Africa sponsored Top Level Domain.
• The .Africa domain is to develop into a global force in
the international commercial, political and cultural
network.
• The .Africa domain aspires to embrace this
dynamism in the African Century to become a
nucleus, intersection and breeding ground for
Internet activity and development in the region
• Africa
The Mission
• To sponsor, establish and operate a continental
Internet namespace with global recognition and
regional significance, dedicated to the needs of
the Pan-African and African Internet community.
• To operate a viable and technically advanced TLD
registry for the Pan-Africa and African community.
• To reinvest partial surpluses in socio-technological
advancement initiatives relevant to the Pan-Africa
and African Internet community; and
• Africa
Organizational Structure
Is to be made up of different sponsor organizations:
• Sponsor Members
• Co-sponsor Members
• Businesses
• Non-profit - NGOs
• Other relevant community
organizations in the region
• Africa
Organizational Structure, cont’d.
Members will make up of Board of Directors
• The BOD will be advised on policy matters by an
Advisory Council
• AC will be populated by one representative from
each co-Sponsor organization.
• A proceeds Steering Committee (PROSCOM) will
be created and appointed by the Board to
oversee the allocation of surplus proceeds from registry operations.
• Africa
Chairman’s Advisory y
Council
Board of Directors
CEO
Functional VPs
Customer Support
Admin Staff
Governance Structure
Marketing & Bus Dev
CO-Sponsor
members
• Businesses• Internet orgs
• IT org,
•Teleco
•NGO,
•Non-profit,
•Other relevant
Africa-based
orgs
•Governments
Key Pan African
Sponsor Org
• AU
• UNECA
• ADB
• Africa
Governance & Representation of Community
• The governance of the .Africa Organization is to be driven thru a multistakeholder representation and augmented by regional
and international expertise.
• Having direct and close involvement of many Governments,
Businesses , NGO’s ensures a wealth of knowledge and expertise
in the operational and policy management of a TLD registry in
the Pan-Africa and Africa region.
• Governance model is to be adapted from the Africa’s
development policy model augmented with other geo –TLD
names. The .Africa Organization intends to operate openly &
transparently.
• Public Policy consideration will include direct input from policy
makers , therefore consulting with the AU/ECA/ADB on policy
matters. • Africa
Interested Sponsor Members & Co-Sponsors
• African Union (AU)
• Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
• African Development Bank (ADB)
• Other Pan-African Organizations
• African Private Sector Actors
• African Non-Profits
• African Internet Actors
• National ICT Policy organs
• Africa
A nonprofit organization that manages and
coordinates the Domain Name System.
ICANN focuses on preserving
the stability of the Internet;
promoting competition;
achieving broad representation of global
Internet communities;
developing policy through bottom-up,consensus-based processes.
• Africa
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers
(ICANN)
Status• Endorsed by Regional Key African organs,
and governments
• The African Union, ECA, ADB and 20% of
African Govt as of endorsement date
• The required demonstrable will of
policymakers were there!.
• Awaiting for ICANN to issue the application
of TLDs, mid June (Expression of Interest)
• Africa
NEXT STEPS for you!
• African Banking sector is key to .Africa
partnership
• Reserve your names for registration!
• Become Sponsor and sponsor members
• Follow-us on Twitter, Facebook & our blog
• Google us @ “dotConnectafrica”
• Africa