Nigerians Focus More on .ng Domain Name to Boost Online Traffic, Drive Digital Transformation

Emma Okonji

The statistics on .ng domain name registration and renewal for the month of May 2025, which was released by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the body responsible for managing Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD), has showed how Nigerians focused more on the country’s .ng domain name to boost online traffic and drive digital transformation across all sectors of the economy.

The .ng domain analysis, which is a breakdown of .ng registration, reveals more than just numbers, as it paints a compelling picture of Nigeria’s digital transformation and the immense opportunities that lie ahead for the nation’s online economy.  

At the heart of .ng registrations is the.com.ng extensionthat showed an impressive registration, which is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of Nigerians to populate Nigeria’s .ng domain name.

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, all 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.

According to the statistics released by NiRA, the .ng direct registration, designed for individuals and diverse organisations, increased to 54,518 in the month of May, while .org.ng, designed for government organisations, reached 12,101 registrations, highlightinghow the country’s non-profit and civil society organisations are leveraging the internet for social good.

The statistics also showed that the .net.ng registrationsreached 4,958, which underscores the foundational role of local internet service and telecom providers in adopting .ng domain name.

The essential domains reserved for academic institutions such as .sch.ng and .edu.ng, reached 4,327and 1,832 registrations respectively, while government bodies, which operate.gov.ng and .mil.ng, increased their .ng domain name registrations to2,551 and 283 respectively, which represent critical strides in formalising and securing Nigeria’s official and educational online presence, directly aligning with national digital policies and safeguarding critical assets.

The statistics also showed that the .name.ng, which is a personal identity domain name, increased to 10,504 registrations, showinghow individuals are embracing personalised digital identities that arenecessary for personal branding and professional networking.

Other sectors such as the i.ng, reached 2,558 registrations in May, while.mobi.ng registration reached3,582 in the same month of May, which further illustrate the diverse adoption of the .ng ccTLD across various specific interest groups in Nigeria.

Analysing the .ng Domain Name statistics for the month of May, the President of NiRA, Mr. Adesola Akinsanya, said: “Each of these 227,599 .ng domain registrations is not just a digital address, but a tangible investment in Nigeria’s progress. These numbers are propelling our nation towards an unprecedented level of digital transformation, yielding tangible benefits such as fuelling economic diversification, cultivating local content and services, fortifying digital sovereignty, building unwavering trust and credibility, and generating vital foreign exchange savings.”

According to him, the significant increase in the volume .ng domain name, signifies how Nigerians are increasingly recognising and asserting their national identity online. “Beyond mere commerce, our people are forging personal brands, nurturing vibrant community initiatives, and establishing non-commercial entities that reflect the rich tapestry of our nation. This truly underscores the maturation of our digital ecosystem,” Akinsanya said.

Akinsanya said NiRA would commence the implementation of the WHOIS Privacy Redaction Service on June 16, 2025, describing it as an important development that will enhances the privacy, security, and trust within the .ng registry. “Under this new measure, personal data such as names, phone numbers, and email addresses of registrants will be redacted from public view in the WHOIS database, replaced with Data Redacted. This aligns with global best practices in data protection and reinforces NiRA’s commitment to safeguarding our users while maintaining critical functionality and compliance mechanisms for legitimate third-party access,” Akinsanya further said.