Malawians encouraged to utilise SDNP’s dot mw (.MW) emails and websites on Malawi domains

Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has granted SDNP the authorization to manage and administer the Country Code Top Level Domain (CCTLD), which will assist Malawians to begin using dot mw (.mw) emails and websites on Malawi domains.

This was done on Thursday night at Sunbird Mount Soche Hotel alongside the official presentation of three licenses for the country’s new mobile service provider, Malcel Plc — a wholly Malawian-owned company that joins five other mobile service providers.

At the ceremony, that was graced by Minister of Information & Digitalization, Gospel Kazako, MACRA Board chairperson Stanley Khaila described the authorization as a big step taken by MACRA towards asserting one of its oversight mandate related to internet governance — “which will result in the Government and different stakeholders having a say in the management of the Malawi Top Level Domain Name commonly known as the dot mw (.MW).

“The awarding of the ccTLD Management Authorization to SDNP, legitimize their role under the Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act, 2016 which mandates MACRA to appoint the ccTLD Manager in Malawi.

“This also means that as part of its mandates, MACRA’s role is to raise awareness and facilitate the use of .MW, which is Malawi’s identity online. Malawians, as well as companies conducting their businesses in Malawi, should take pride in using .MW as part of their domain names. Patriotism requires that we use .MW.”

MACRA Director General Daud Suleman attested that SNDP, owned by Paulos Nyirenda, has been providing the digital identity domain for a long time and they saw it need to formalize its operations according to communication regulations.

He indicated that the majority of Malawians, including corporates and other top organisations, had been using other countries’ identity domain and that their websites were also hosted by foreign companies.

He thus encouraged patriotic Malawians to fully utilise SNDP’s services by creating .MW digital domains so that digital traffic remains in the country.

In his remarks, Nyirenda said he was deeply honoured that MACRA has recognised SNDP’s presence in providing patriotic .MW identity digital domains, which has been in operational since 2002 when he took over from UNDP, which was being operated outside Malawi.

He said the .MW operates on a global internet domains that identifies that such communications are specifically from Malawi, thus the need for all patriots to own their own digital ID.

According to its website, SNDP is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in 2014 as company number 13920 under the Malawi Companies Act.

Malawi SDNP started in 1996 as a UNDP supported Malawi Government programme, whose main objective was and continues to be to assist with development of internet and information services in with emphasis on sustainable development.

Minister Kazako encouraged SDNP “to market its services widely so that Malawians begin using .MW emails and websites on Malawi domains”.

“Malawian companies and organizations should also be encouraged to do the same. Let us begin to more patriotic and identify ourselves with our country online on the World Wide Web.”

Kazako assured all business entities operating in the country of continued Government support, saying they will ensure that the business environment “is conducive for growth of various business but also that the cost of doing business is not prohibitive”.

“As Government, we also expect that as we are making the environment conducive for business growth, consumers should also be accorded quality and affordable services.”

He thus emphasised his appeal to both SNDP and Malcel Plc “to ensure that they meet consumer needs in all their dealings”, adding that the essence of telecommunications operations is not just to satisfy the operators  “but meeting the needs of the consumers by providing high-quality and affordable services”.

“The ICT Industry needs more players to contribute effectively to the country,” he said, while applauding MACRA for providing a platform for the networking sessions for various players from the industry and the public.