The session was moderated by Abimbola Aderibigbe, the Registrar Relationship Manager at the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), with Mr Peter Oluka, Editor of Techeconomy, explaining the importance of the .ng domain in this period of digital growth.

The in-depth conversation touched on how the .ng domain, as Nigeria’s country code top-level domain (ccTLD), can be a necessary tool for businesses and content creators, providing both local and global advantages.

The .ng Domain: A National Asset and Identity

Mr Oluka explained the indispensable role of the .ng domain as a national asset and a representation of Nigeria’s identity in the digital space. He stated, “.ng gives the user a unique identity. There’s something that points to the word that this platform or this user is actually from Nigeria, or is resident in Nigeria, or is coming from Nigeria.”

He further stressed that the .ng domain goes beyond being just a technical tool, but is also a symbol of national pride. “.ng is our unique national identity in the digital space,” he asserted, noting it as a core part of Nigeria’s online presence.

The Benefits of .ng Over Generic Domains

One of the key points Mr. Oluka highlighted was the branding advantage that comes with using a .ng domain. He explained how it sets businesses apart by strengthening their Nigerian identity. 

He reiterated that the .ng extension can strengthen a brand’s position in the market. “If I ask you about Nigerian banks, anyone who visits a bank’s website using the .ng domain, knows that this is a Nigerian bank,” Mr. Oluka said, stressing the connection between .ng and national recognition.

Again, he pointed out the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In adopting a .ng domain, businesses improve their visibility within Nigeria. He mentioned Google’s use of google.com.ng as an example of how search engines prioritise location-based domains to deliver relevant results. 

“Why do you think that Google has google.com.ng? Because anything you’re searching for related to Nigeria is filtered to this domain,” Mr Oluka explained.

He also touched on the global benefits. While some might perceive the .ng domain as limiting businesses to Nigerian markets and restricting their global reach, Mr Oluka clarified that it is a stepping stone to global recognition, especially if the content is universally relevant. 

“For instance, for us in Techeconomy, our top five countries for traffic are Nigeria, the US, UK, South Africa, and Ghana. .ng does not limit you to Nigeria alone,” he shared.

The Potential for Startups and Tech Companies

The discussion moved towards the role of .ng domains for startups, particularly in the tech space. Mr Oluka noted that the .ng domain offers startups a distinct advantage in terms of visibility and recognition, particularly for Nigerian investors and stakeholders. 

He pointed to the example of AgriTech startups that could benefit from the visibility provided by a .ng domain, saying, “For startups in areas like health, e-commerce, or AgTech, having a .ng domain helps you get recognised. It’s a unique identity that shows you’re part of the Nigerian ecosystem and helps you attract local and global attention.”

He also mentioned the growing use of .ng domains by well-known platforms such as theguardian.ng and leadership.ng, ascertaining that even large, established brands are adopting the domain to maintain their Nigerian identity online.

Affordability of the .ng Domain

One of the session’s most practical takeaways was the affordability of the .ng domain compared to international generic domains. 

Mr Oluka explained that while registering domains with international providers can be expensive, the .ng domain is more cost-effective, particularly because it allows payments in Naira. 

He said, “If you look at .ng today, the price is quite competitive compared to what you see out there. You’re going to pay in Naira, and that makes it more affordable for Nigerian businesses.”

He also recommended working with local registrars to ensure the best experience and support when registering a .ng domain.

How to Register a .ng Domain

For those interested in adopting the .ng domain, Mr. Oluka provided guidance on how to get started. He advised businesses to visit register.ng, the official portal for registering .ng domains. “It’s your go-to platform for registering your .ng domain,” he urged.

He further explained that businesses should begin by choosing the right name for their domain, one that aligns with their brand and target audience. “Before we started Techeconomy, I had 25 domain names in mind. But then, the name ‘Techeconomy’ came to me, and it was a perfect fit for our vision,” Mr Oluka recounted, sharing his experience in selecting a domain name.

At the NiRA Tech Convergence 1.0, Mr Oluka’s message on adopting a .ng domain reiterated the patriotic choice and also provided businesses with a solid tool to enhance their visibility, branding, and global reach. 

He urged these businesses and content creators to take on the .ng domain, especially in the face of a fast changing digital space.

“If you are not on .ng, you are missing out,” he concluded, pointing to the notion that Nigeria’s identity in the digital world must be proudly showcased through the .ng domain.

Embracing .ng is both a smart business move and an enhancement of Nigeria’s digital presence.

NiRA the registry for .ng Internet Domain Names and maintains the database of names registered in the .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).

A team led by Mr. Adesola Akinsanya, the President of NiRA is currently attending Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Policy Forum, ICANN80, in Kigali, Rwanda.

In her presentation at the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) session, Mrs. Busayo Balogun, the Head of Corporate Services at NiRA said the Association had launched a dashboard for real time updates on .ng domain name registrations.

She said that the .ng domain name has continued to garner popularity in usage for websites and email addresses.

According to her, the dashboard shows the .ng domains have increased to 225,533 from 222,820 reported earlier in the year.

She told the audience that through its 3R – Registry, Registrar, Registrant – model of operation, NiRA contracts more than 100 registrars to provide registration services to the public.

“An end user selects a registrar to provide the registration service, and that registrar registers the domain chosen by the user. NiRA does not register user, directly. This model has really helped us to maintain decorum.

Earlier, Mr. Akinsanya reiterated NiRA’s commitment to driving .ng domain adoption and advancing Nigeria’s digital landscape.

“This growing trend underscores the domain’s significance and its role in establishing a strong digital identity for businesses and individuals alike.

“Additionally, we are currently conducting the .ng brand survey [https://form.jotform.com/niraworks/ng-brand-survey-2024] to gauge the awareness and adoption levels of the .ng domain among internet users in Nigeria.

“I encourage everyone to participate in this survey and share their valuable insights”, he said.

NiRA also received a rousing applause from participants at the ICANN80 as the ccNSO session lead, Joel Karubiu, former chief executive officer, Kenya Network Information Centre (KeNIC), said, “I see a lot of passion from the Nigerian team here”.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN’s) 80th Public Meeting [the ICANN80 Policy Forum], will be held from 10–13 June 2024 at the Kigali Convention Centre in Kigali, Rwanda.

This event, hosted in collaboration with the Republic of Rwanda’s Ministry of ICT and Innovation, marks the first ICANN meeting to take place in Rwanda.

This underscores ICANN’s commitment to fostering global participation and collaboration in the governance of the Internet.

The ICANN80 Policy Forum will convene stakeholders from around the world, including representatives from governments, businesses, civil society, academia, and the technical community.

Over four days, participants will engage in discussions on key issues affecting the Internet’s Domain Name System [DNS], including the need for improved DNS security, expanding the DNS to support more languages and scripts, and the evolution of domain name registration policies.

The forum aims to foster international collaboration and set the stage for future developments in Internet governance.

Prior to ICANN80, the High-Level Government Meeting [HLGM] is scheduled for 9 June 2024.

Chaired by the Hon. Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation, the HLGM will highlight the critical role of governmental bodies in shaping ICANN policies and initiatives.

This meeting, led by ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee, will focus on promoting governmental engagement and fostering effective collaboration, to align and enhance global Internet governance efforts.

“We are excited to host the international community in Kigali for the ICANN80 Policy Forum and High-Level Government Meeting,” said Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT & Innovation. “The Policy Forum will lead efforts to maintain a secure, stable, and interoperable internet, and set the stage for future developments and emerging trends in global internet governance. Our contributions as the local host for ICANN80 give us an opportunity to demonstrate our critical contributions towards global internet governance and the advancement of meaningful internet connectivity for all.”

ICANN Interim President and CEO Sally Costerton commented on the significance of the meeting:

“ICANN80 is a vital platform for advancing global digital inclusivity and strengthening cybersecurity measures. It will facilitate robust multistakeholder engagement and discussions on critical initiatives like the New Generic Top-Level Domain Program, particularly focusing on Internationalized Domain Names and the Applicant Support Program. The HLGM will further emphasize the essential role of governments in our collaborative efforts to address challenges such as data privacy and DNS abuse.”

This push by NiRA came just after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) barred its workers from using generic domains for official communications. The focus of this piece is to look at how these efforts will deepen the digital economy agenda of the nation.  

The Federal Executive Council (Nigeria) approved the National Policy on the Nigerian Government Second-Level Domains during its meeting on the 16th of February, 2022 and thus barred its workers from the use of generic domains.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) followed up with the directive by recently inaugurating a 14-man enforcement committee to monitor the policy implementation across all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) both at the State and Federal levels.

However, the February 2022 declaration is not the first by the FEC, leaving many people astonished as to why, after six years , the Nigeria government is still advocating for compliance regarding the local .ng domain.

Should it be regarded as ignorance or sheer sabotage that a diplomat for example, would issue a call card which contains a ‘.com, ‘.co.uk’, etc., email address? It may very well be that Nigeria’s top public officials are not aware of the use of gov.ng in their ministries. One is left wondering how long it will be, to obtain 100% compliance to the new policy.

Frankly, it is amazing that a country with 141,971,560 active internet users in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report, has less than 200,000 .ng domains to both local and international owners. Yes, it is a somewhat interesting irony especially when you look at the number of .co.za domains that South Africa has been able to push out to the world.

A lot of questions are raised in different quarters as to why Nigerians have simply refused to use .ng domains? Who is to blame? Is it that we believe .ng is not good enough or we just do not understand its importance to our national brand? We probably need some sort of government policy to make it somewhat compulsory for individuals and businesses as well?

If you try to convince some to switch to .ng a vast majority of people would give all sorts of reasons why they do not use .ng and many of these reasons are simply based on assumptions or hearsay and not facts.

Again, it is important to stress that the foundation of any proper and sustainable development especially in the knowledge economy is the enactment and enforcement of policies. Imagine, if we had a policy that states that every registered company in Nigeria must use .ng? We know this is not an impossible feat, after all the UK and a few other countries are enforcing such policies whether covertly or overtly.

Therefore, the recent moves by the FEC must be effectively implemented especially in support of the digital economy drives.

The journey towards economic diversification requires everybody’s commitment to the development of a robust digital economy and in this case demands the use of the Nigerian Second Level Domain by all government-owned websites and official emails.

The private sector is not left out either. Many Nigerian business platforms still struggle with the indulgence of .ng, not aware of the immense benefit it will offer to boost their business outlook both local and international.

First, the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) has the registry for .ng Internet Domain Names and maintains the database of names registered in Nigeria. It has shown commitment towards this cause by the recent reduction in the price of .ng domain name registration by over 40 per cent, and the media efforts to inform the general public.

The benefits are numerous but let us consider a few of them. The .ng is the internet country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) for Nigeria. Nigeria’s domain name system identifies Nigeria-related websites and is currently available for registration in the following variants, .com.ng, .ng, .org.ng, .net.ng and so on, with a few of them being restricted to Nigerian entities such as .gov.ng, .edu.ng, .sch.ng and so on.

For instance, Nigerian businesses registering .ng domain names have the immediate benefit of being ranked first on search engines when an online search is conducted. Using it and maintaining a good search engine optimisation (SEO) for the website will, over time, lead to an increase in local traffic.

A strong online presence is essential. Your prospective customer will likely conduct a web search when looking for your product or service, and a website that is relatively easy to find and navigate will greatly increase your chances of making a sale, which .ng provides.

Nigeria as a Nation is blessed with this unique domain string known as .ng and we should be proud of this gift of nature. However, we should not stop at appreciating it but owning at least one of the many variants.

Foreign Exchange is Scarce

A lot of developers will tell you they used to be happy paying for their VPS but not anymore because of the ever increasing exchange rate and the same goes for .com domain names! Using the .ng range of domains will contribute to saving the scarce FX.

SEO/Speed/Reduced Latency

Why do you think that Google would rather serve you results using google.com.ng when you search for stuff within Nigeria and if you travel to say Ghana and use the same device it will go ahead and serve you results via google.com.gh?

What is even more interesting is that in the case of Nigeria, Google owns both com.ng as well as .ng, an example of a forward looking company.

Local Content Development

With increase in local content, more businesses will be born. If you consider the report by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) that the number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the country dropped by about two million between 2017 and 2021, then you will appreciate the need to grow local content and intensify the promotion of local brands online.

The 2021 MSME survey revealed that there are 39 million MSMEs in Nigeria, which is a significant drop from the 41 million reported in the 2017 survey report.

Therefore, we must develop local content by supporting what is ours. Just imagine what will happen if only 1% of the reported 211 million+ Nigerians (according to MacroTrends statistics) decide to own .ng, that will be over 2 Million domain names which would eventually serve as the foundation for businesses, ventures and causes on the world wide web.

Would that not further strengthen the Nigerian brand and dignify her on the Internet? This goes to show all hands must be on deck to drive adoption of the use of the .ng domain… Let’s support NiRA ’s push!