.africa is a proposed Internet generic top-level domain (gTLD) for the African and Pan African communities and users wherever they may reside. The .africa TLD would serve as regional domain for individuals and entities based in the Africa region interested in expressing a Pan African identity or outlook in the Internet.

In 2009, DotConnectAfrica organization was endorsed as the official sponsor for the initiative by the African Union(AU)^[1] and the Economic Commission for Africa(ECA).^[2] but other contenders to have since emerged and expressed an interest in applying for the Top Level Domain.

Following the approval of the new generic top-level domain names program by ICANN on June 20 in Singapore, the full proposal for .africa will be presented to ICANN during the application window for new generic top-level domains between 12 January 2012 to 12 April 2012 along with other new gTLDs applications.^[3]

There were initial communications that presented the idea of this new top-level domain at ICANN Lisbon in 2007,^[4] but since, the proposal has evolved with community input to what was recently presented.^[5][6]

The official gTLD name will be delegated by ICANN after an evaluation process if the proposal is approved. Other names such as .afrique for Francophone Africa and .afrikia for Arabic speaking Africans are also being considered. Other continental geoTLDs have been delegated by ICANN in the past such as the Asian gTLD (.asia) and the European Union's ccTLD (.eu).

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