"The DCA already expressed interest by proposing the DotAfrica initiative to the African Union Commission in 2006 and again in 2008, and after a rigorous process of making technical presentations, meetings, clarifications and exchange of correspondence with the Commission, the AU in 2009, issued DCA with an official endorsement of the Initiative proposed," according to a statement from the DCA.

On its part, AfTLD has embraced the recent efforts by the AU, including the EOI.

"We welcome the approach taken by the AU in the .africa matter; it shows AU's commitment to openness and transparency in its intention to endorse a suitable bidder to bid for .africa during the ICANN new gTLD application round," said Vika Mpisane, the AfTLD's president.

Mpisane said that the EOI shows that the AU had not endorsed any bidder and AfTLD will be responding to the EOI.

"Any claim of past endorsements is now clearly proven to be nothing but an unsubstantiated and unreliable claim; AfTLD will be responding to both the AU and ICANN processes because we believe we possess the right acumen and pool of skills and resources to successfully operate .africa for the true benefit of the African Internet communities," added Mpisane.