About .africa domains

About .africa domains

.AFRICA is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) delegated in the DNS root zone. The registry operator responsible for .AFRICA is listed by IANA as ZA Central Registry NPC trading as Registry.Africa. Anyone can typically register a .AFRICA name through an accredited registrar, subject to the registry’s registration policy and ICANN consensus policies.

.africa is the officially designated top-level domain (TLD) for the African and Pan-African communities and users wherever they reside. It is a sponsored generic top-level domain (gTLD) operated by the Registry Africa. The .africa namespace is open to individuals, businesses and organizations around the world. The .africa domains are intended to showcase their brand and commitment to the African continent, establishing a home for Africa-specific products and services, expanding a brand's regional influence and acquiring online real-estate. The .africa domain became available to the general public on 4 July 2017.

Who can register .africa domains?

Eligibility is defined by the registry operator and its registrars. Most gTLDs are open to anyone worldwide. Many ccTLDs are also open globally; some require local presence, citizenship, or trademark rights. Always confirm current policy with the registry or your registrar.

Registration restrictions

Character rules below follow common ICANN LDH conventions. Individual registries and registrars may impose extra eligibility, length, or residency rules.

Length

1 – 63 characters (label before .africa)

Can use

Letters (a–z), numbers (0–9), and hyphens (not first/last or consecutive in restricted cases)

Cannot use

Special characters (e.g. & # @) in standard LDH labels

IDNs

Varies by registry — check IDN support with the registry or your registrar

Features

Operational features (privacy, parking, protection) are registrar-level, not defined by the IANA root zone record.

Registry information

Sponsor / manager

ZA Central Registry NPC trading as Registry.Africa

Registration services

http://nic.africa

WHOIS server

whois.nic.africa

RDAP server

https://rdap.nic.africa/rdap/