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

Contact us at:

Support@dotconnectafrica.org

Thank you for your attention

Your African Mobile Identity