Nigeria’s country-code internet domain, .ng, is nearing a major milestone after the namespace recorded its strongest monthly performance of the year in July 2026, driven by higher registrations, renewals and improved domain retention.
The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), which manages the .ng domain, said its registry closed July with 249,897 domains under management, up from 243,953 in June. The figure placed the .ng namespace just 103 domains short of the 250,000 threshold.
According to NiRA’s July 2026 Registrar Ecosystem Update, the registry recorded 11,044 new registrations and 6,766 renewals during the month, bringing total registration and renewal activity to 17,810, the highest monthly volume recorded in 2026.
NiRA said registrars had already recorded more than 3,000 additional new registrations in the early days of August, pushing the namespace past the 250,000-domain mark.
Adesola Akinsanya, NiRA president, described the milestone as evidence of growing recognition of .ng as an important component of Nigeria’s digital identity.
‘Crossing the 250,000-domain milestone is an important achievement for the .ng community,’ Akinsanya said, adding that the growth reflected the collective efforts of NiRA, accredited registrars and Nigerians building businesses and services online.
He said NiRA would continue working with industry stakeholders to make the domain more accessible, secure and relevant to businesses, institutions and individuals.
The July performance was supported not only by new registrations but also by a decline in domain deletions.
NiRA recorded 5,646 deletions in July, the lowest monthly deletion figure of the year. Deletions accounted for 31.7 percent of total growth, compared with 42.7 percent in June and more than 50 percent during the first five months of 2026.
The development suggests that improved renewal and retention efforts are beginning to support the expansion of the .ng namespace.
Seyi Onasanya, NiRA’s chief operating officer, said the figures showed that growth was being supported by existing registrants maintaining their domains.
‘Our priority is to build on this momentum by helping registrars engage customers proactively, encourage timely renewals and promote the long-term value of maintaining a .ng digital identity,’ she said.
NiRA is also encouraging multi-year registrations and greater adoption of second-level domains, which it considers premium digital identities with potential search-engine optimisation benefits.
Second-level domains recorded 4,659 new registrations and 2,357 renewals in July, generating a net growth of 5,668 domains.
Third-level domains accounted for the larger share of activity, with 6,385 new registrations and 4,409 renewals, resulting in net growth of 6,496 domains.
NiRA said customer education, proactive renewal reminders, expiry notifications and incentives for multi-year registrations would be important in sustaining the growth and reducing avoidable deletions.
Despite the growth in domain registrations, NiRA said security adoption across the registrar ecosystem remains an area requiring greater attention.
The association’s July report showed that only 15 of Nigeria’s 164 accredited registrars had implemented DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC), representing an adoption rate of 9.15 percent
DNSSEC is designed to help protect internet users from certain forms of domain-name manipulation by adding cryptographic authentication to the Domain Name System.
NiRA urged more registrars to adopt DNSSEC as part of efforts to strengthen security and digital trust across the .ng ecosystem.
The latest milestone reinforces NiRA’s efforts to position the .ng domain as a strategic national digital asset as more Nigerian businesses, entrepreneurs, institutions and individuals establish an online presence.
With the 250,000-domain threshold now crossed, the focus will shift from registration growth to sustaining retention, improving security and encouraging wider adoption of .ng as Nigeria’s preferred national digital identity.