Welcome to 2012 – the year of the new gTLD Programme:

Jan. 14, 2012 - PRLog -- Message from our Executive Director:  DCA's Resolution for 2012

This Holiday Season- It was all about Malindi.africa!

2011 - It seemed that the whole world was in crisis.  The natural disasters, the Euro-zone sovereign debt crisis, the Arab spring, the Norway Utoya massacre, Internet  Governance,  global protests on social media, not to exclude DCA's "No Campaigns" to ensure that DotAfrica was not hijacked by special interests; thus making peace a rare commodity in sight.

Once again, goodbye 2011 and welcome to 2012 -  We all start with optimism towards a brand new year, as we  are thankful that we survived  the past year

Myself, I decided to spend my year-end holiday at Malindi, the Central Coast of Kenya by the Indian Ocean.  Although it was too hot for a scuba diving vacation, which was my original objective,  I have found myself rather busy whilst spending much of my time hotel hopping and indulging on the amazing assortment of seafood in this seaside town.

What I found  exciting was the amazing growth I  was witnessing all over the country which made my decision to take a drive instead of a flight to Malindi a worth while experience.
 
Even though, I had wanted to get my mind off my work on ".africa",  I  could not help but make mental note notes of all the brand names expanding  throughout  the country and the potential for a ".africa" in practically everything conceivable; I was seeing mpesa.africa;  familybank.africa; malindi.africa and all the hotel and beach resort names, and the small enterprises selling ethnic souvenirs and other gift items. My hotel in Malindi, oceanbeachkenya.com is certainty looking to be oceanbeach.africa!

And if and when I mentioned to any of them, the idea seemed to be an eye opener and was greatly entertained.   Certainly, the .africa we all dreamed about is  justified.

Looking back at DCA's 2011 - We have been given many opportunities and we have excelled and we are proud of our achievements. (see our 2011 End of Year Newsletter).

WE HAVE ALSO KEPT OUR PROMISE!.  

Recalling our 2011 resolution to you:  "We will  campaign  with ICANN for new gTLDs,  we will  campaign with our endorsers to make it happen and we will  campaign  with  generation.africa to go to the promised land and bring the benefit to all".

From San Francisco and Department of Commerce in United States of America, to North and West Africa, to Europe and Asia;  we have been there in 201. We have campaigned globally making the case for .africa and representing your interest.   When faced with unreasonable challenges, we have fought for what is right and succeeded.  Most importantly, we won at every front!   All with your support!

One of our most significant victories scored during 2011 was to defeat the proposal to include DotAfrica and similar namestrings in any language in the Top-Level Reserved Names List.  We note with pride that ICANN listened to our arguments and did not agree with those who wanted the DotAfrica name to be reserved and seperately negotiated outside the ICANN new gTLD programme.

Looking forward to 2012 - our New Year resolution is clear;

-We will continue our yes2dotafrica campaign;
-We will apply for the .africa gTLD with ICANN;
-We will fight special interest groups that will put obstacles towards our goals for .africa & ICANN;
-We will do this and more on your behalf;
-We will thus continue to keep our promises to you!

So come along with DCA on the campaign trail as the global debate for the internet governance continues...  

In this context, here is also a link to the op-ed piece I have written on CircleID "2012: the year of the new gTLD Programme and the year to support ICANN", in:
Part I: http://www.circleid.com/posts/2012_the_year_of_the_new_gt...
and Part II: http://www.circleid.com/posts/2012_the_year_of_the_new_gt...

So here is to a Happy New Year and wishing each and every one a happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2012.  

God Bless Africa!  

Sincerely,
Sbekele

Sophia Bekele
Founder/Executive Director
DotConnectAfrica

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DCA is a not-for-profit, non-partisan org incorporated in Mauritius Africa & will sponsor, establish & operate a TLD registry with global recognition & regional significance dedicated to the needs of Pan-African &African community. DCA Reg.ID.CT8710DCA90