After Recording Major Increase in June, Nigeria’s .ng Domain Registration Slides to 226,454

Emma Okonji

The total figure for the registration, renewal and restoration of Nigeria’s .ng domain name dropped slightly in July this year to 226,454, after a major leap in the months of May and June this year, which recorded 223,891 and 226,702 respectively.

This is according to the latest statistics released by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the body responsible for managing Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).

According to the statistics, the total .ng domain name registration, renewal and restoration, reached 223,891 in May 2024, and further increased to 226,702 in June 2024, before sliding slightly 226,454 in July 2024.

THISDAY had last month, reported an initial steady growth of Nigeria’s .ng domain name, which grew from 212,890 in December 2023 to reach 215,496 in January 2024, before increasing again to 217,527 in February 2024, with a further increase to 220,216 in March 2024, with and another increase to 222,820 and 223,891 in April and May 2024 respectively, before reaching 226,702 in June 2024.   

Although the summation of .ng domain name includes registration, renewal and restoration, but the latest statistics on Nigeria’s .ng domain name, as released by NiRA, showed that registration alone reached 8,066 in May 2024, and it increased 8,164 in June 2024, with a further increase to 8,607 in July 2024. The .ng domain name renewal alone was 5,545 in May 2024, and it decreased to 5,028 in June 2024, before increasing to 5,743 in July 2024, while the .ng domain name restoration alone was 140 in May 2024 and it increased to 142 in June 2024, with a further increase to 209 in July 2024.  

The ccTLD .ng domain name is Nigeria’s identity in cyberspace, which has the .ng at the suffix of every official email address that originates from Nigeria. In the United Kingdom, official email addresses end with .co.uk. In United States of America, they end with .com, while in South Africa, the official email addresses end with .co.za.

Nigeria had initially maintained steady growth in the adoption and usage of .ng domain name across different sectors of the economy and the growth had attracted commendations from the global community of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), before sliding a little last month.  

Penultimate month, ICAN commended Nigeria for surpassing the 225,000 mark for all registered .ng domain names in the country, when Nigeria attained the 226,702 in June this year, before it slightly slipped to 226,454 in July last month.

Speaking about the development, President of NiRA, Mr. Adesola Akinsanya, assured Nigerians of the strategies been put in place to ensure continuous growth of .ng domain name across the country.

According to him, the strategic collaborations between NiRA and some government agencies, are aimed at driving growth and populating Nigeria’s .ng domain name.

“NiRA holds a pivotal role as the steward of Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD), which is a crucial element in advancing the nation’s digital ecosystem. NiRA also recognises the significance of collaborating with strategic partners who share in NiRA’s vision and can assist in achieving its vital objective of populating Nigeria’s .ng domain name,” Akinsanya said.

Recently, Nigeria participated in the Coalition for Digital Africa DNSSEC Roadshow, organised in collaboration with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and NiRA, aimed at deploying Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) and enhancing internet security for the .ng domain,” Akinsanya further said.