"Brains behind .africa" reports Diplomat EastAfrica, profiling Bekele's work

Dec. 8, 2010 - PRLog -- Nairobi Kenya:  Diplomat East Africa's Jane Mwangi discusses with Sophia Bekele her plans for connecting Africa towards a Digital Africa and more...

Responding to Mwangi's question to the specific endorsement process for DotConnectAfrica initiative, namely the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Sophia stated,  “I first approached the ECA in 2006 and then finally got our endorsement in 2008. In fact, as ECA also have a mandate to coordinate their policies with AU, they assisted in identifying the appropriate unit for us at the AU to purse the same. We then approached AU, the Director of Infrastructure at the time and submitted our proposal.  Concurrently, in 2007 we submitted our dotafrica proposal for support with ITU in Geneva and the African office in Ethiopia. ITU then turned over the proposal for the AU to do a study. Discussions took place with the African Union Commission (AUC) and eventually recommendations were put forward  to the Chairman’s office for support, resulting in a letter endorsing the project by the Chairman's office in August 2009.”

As to why African should look forward to the birth of the ‘dotAfrica generation’, Bekele said  “We created a theme,"generation.africa"  so to  inspire the youth who are the next generation innovators and trustees of Africa.  This growth would give the dotafrica generation a platform from which to address the global internet community as a unified voice for the promotion of Africa’s interest,” Bekele said.

"The direct benefit of the dotafrica domain to ICT development cannot be understated.   While a dotafrica domain on its own brands Africa at a continental level, signifying the entities that register with the domain as ‘from Africa, by Africa and to Africa’, the fact that nearly 80 per cent of Africa pays money to foreign registry to obtain their identity no less contributes to capital flight from the continent.  What we have proposed is to have the dotafrica registry located in Africa so that revenues remain in Africa.  Additionally, this relocation of business creates a whole new industry of local registrars. Assisting local entrepreneurs and businesses to new or additional lines and expanding employment opportunities and contributing to Africa’s economic activities.

The economic benefits of a dotafrica continental identifier are not without the backing of numbers.  In this fact are figures to include over hundreds of thousands of businesses with premium names, a vibrant youth that is to be part of generation Africa and opportunity to cross market with existing country domain names, as well as develop rural Africa.

Link to the article: http://www.diplomateastafrica.com/index.php?option=com_co...

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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