Kenya is not among the seven countries being covered dotAfrica (.africa) flag roadshow launched at the 29th African Union (AU) Summit. The countries in the roadshow include Tanzania (the only one picked from East Africa), Ethiopia, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Namibia and Botswana.
The .africa Roadshow was launched at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in July 2017.
(TOP: The launch of the .africa roadshow and awareness campaign at AU headquarters in Ethiopia in July. Photo: FollowTheFlag).
At the, the chairperson of the AU, Alpha Condè handed over the .africa flag to the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki Mahamat, who in turn handed the .africa flag to the .africa Team, represented by Lucky Masilela, CEO of Registry Africa, in a symbolic gesture meant to act as an endorsement of the continent-wide .africa awareness campaign.
The roadshow, also FollowTheFlag, is an awareness campaign symbolising the importance of “Africa finally having achieved a single platform for a united digital identity, and how this will allow the continent to both uplift itself and contribute to the global digital economy.”
Speaking during the roadshow launch, Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy at the AUC, stated that the milestone will go down in history as an example of Africans from all walks of life working together to achieve a common goal and purpose. Furthermore, .africa represented to the AU Member States an opportunity for the continent to forge a unique online identity which would associate products, services and information with the continent and people of Africa.
As part of the FollowTheFlag campaign and roadshow, the .africa team will travel to AU member states for six months promoting the use of the domain name, culminating in the flag summiting Mount Kilimanjaro and eventually returning back to the AU in January 2018.
“We are extremely grateful to the AUC for its unwavering support throughout this long journey that began as far back as the OR Tambo and Abuja Declarations where it was resolved to use ICT to ensure the development of Africa. It is now time to create the next chapter in the .africa story as the general public begins applying for their chosen .africa domains this very week,” said Mr Masilela.
“The .africa gTLD intends to promote African businesses, people and culture on the internet and will allow Africa to actively contribute to the digital economy. It is also a source of funding for the development of ICT projects on the continent,” said Dr Abou-Zeid.
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