Aggressive campaign in promoting the local .ke domain and high internet penetration are among the reasons Kenya has been ranked second in Africa for the registration of web addresses.

Only South Africa was ahead according to a first of its kind report by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) last week.

Kenya and South Africa earned points for their established Internet infrastructure, data affordability and policies that have made it cheap and simple to register websites.

ICT has been one of the key drivers of Kenya’s economy and most businesses in Kenya have turned to ICT solutions in efforts to grow. By 2015, 45.6% of the Kenyan population were connected to the internet which has risen with the introduction of affordable internet subscriptions and the growth in usage of smartphones.

As a way to drive the growth of African websites, African countries have been encouraged to simplify the policies around registration and slash the associated fees and also promote content in local languages.