The .bw domain name is still struggling to make the numbers according to the Country Code Top-Level Domain Name Management (ccTLD) which is incorporated in the latest BOCRA Annual report. In October 2017, BOCRA and Internet Company for Assigned Names And Numbers (ICANN) organised a workshop on Domain name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) and Domain name System (DNS) Business. The objective of the workshop was to train registrars in Botswana to secure the Domain Name Systems.
According to the BOCRA report, “The workshop was divided in two sections; being Domain Name Security Extension Operations and Implementations and DNS Business. The registrars were encouraged to automate their registration systems to reduce the turnaround times and registration prices to encourage uptake. Another layest and similar workshop was conducted in 2019 but its not part of this report.
The report says the total number of names registered by registrars by volume were BTC and bw domains. Bw domains gained popularity “because it automated its services. “Figures show a growth of domain names between FY 2016/2017 and 2017/2018. A significant growth was realised in the co.bw which has grown from 4809 to 6302 domain names.”
The .bw ccTLD uptake is still relatively low, in FY 2017/2018 a total of 7153 domain names were registered and this is an improvement from the previous FY 2016/2017 in which a total of 5628 domain names were registered.
According to the ccTLD, “The low uptake of the .bw was mainly attributed to strong competition from Generic Top –Level Domains (gTLDs) like .com, .biz, .info, .net, .org which are registered at very competitive prices and lack of online registration from local registrars, that is, Internet Service Providers, made .bw domain nae registration inefficient. The overall number of the FY 2017/2018 was 7153,” so says the report.
In January 2018, efforts were also made on a broader continental scale to up the ante on the dotAfrica domain name and sensitise stakeholders on the use of the dotAfrica domain name. Similarly, the Top-Level Domain name for Africa (dotAfrica gTLD) was created to bring the continent together as an internet community under one umbrella allowing e-commerce technology and infrastructure to flourish. “This is an opportunity to forge a unique online identity which will associate products , services and/or information with the continent and people of africa.”
