The dotAfrica (.africa) team revealed they will begin their journey to summit Mount Kilimanjaro on 16 January. The announcement was held at Coza House, Corporate Park South, in Midrand.
After climbing the mountain for about 10 days, the team should summit on 23 January, from where they will make the return journey to base camp two days later, having achieved a milestone, which the entire continent of Africa can be justly proud.
Prior to the above, there will be a roadshow that signals the start of the trek to Kilimanjaro. The .africa flag’s story began when it was officially handed over to the .africa team in the Nelson Mandela Plenary Hall at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, earlier in July last year.
The roadshow made its way from South Africa to Francistown, Botswana, on 4 January before the .africa team arrived in Zimbabwe on 5 January. From Bulawayo, the flag travelled to the Zambian town of Chinhoyi before travelling to Lusaka.
On 6 January, the team left Lusaka for Serenje, prior to visiting a series of Tanzanian towns and cities, starting with Tunduma on 8 January. Makambako, Iringa and Dodoma will all play host to the .africa team before they arrive in the Tarangire National Park on 12 January.
Following a successful Kilimanjaro summit, the roadshow will culminate at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia at the heads of state summit on 28 and 29 January where the .africa flag will be returned to its home. This signifies the beginning of promoting the use of the .africa domain name in pursuit of African unity, peace and prosperity.
The domain .africa was launched by Registry Africa and CEO, Lucky Masilela, who said, “The Kilimanjaro summit attempt is a fantastic example of like-minded Africans working together to achieve a common goal. Just as the eventual commercial launch of .africa was an example of Africans overcoming enormous odds in the quest to better their lives through a unique online identity, so too is this historic trek by the .africa team.”
Registry Africa is extremely grateful to the AU Commission for its unwavering support throughout the long journey that began as far back as the OR Tambo and Abuja Declarations where it was resolved to use information communication technology to ensure the development of Africa.
“It is now time to create the next chapter in the .africa story as the general public begins contributing to Africa’s development each time they register a .africa domain name.”
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To follow and virtually participate in the trek to Kilimanjaro, please visit www.followtheflag.africa and use #followtheflagafrica across all social media platforms.