During the Dakar meeting, ICANN president Rod Beckstrom said that the organization was willing to support the region more, and demonstrated this by unveiling the L root server copy operated by ICANN in California. The root server will increase the security and stability of the Domain Name System and help in resolving DNS queries faster. The root is hosted by NIC Senegal and attached to the Sonatel backbone in Dakar. Sonatel is one of the biggest telcos in West Africa.

"Root name servers are a critical part of the Internet," said Joe Abley, director of DNS Operations at ICANN.  "And this new Internet Root server in Dakar is part of an ongoing global effort to improve Internet accessibility and operations in under-served regions along with improving the security and stability of the Internet's Domain Name System for all users." 

Senegal is the first West African country to have a root server copy; Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique and Nigeria have benefitted from a project by AfriNIC, ICANN and ISOC that helps countries set up IXPs and subsequently get root server copies and other resources like Google cache that make the IXPs attractive to local ISPs and content providers.

The AU ministerial meeting, meanwhile, tackled thorny issues related to the .africa gTLD. The ministerial meeting agreed that the .africa gTLD should be reserved, meaning that organizations that want to bid to manage it must be sanctioned by the AU. ICANN's new gTLD application process provides for countries and regions with interest in certain names to reserve them.

"The fact that African leaders could meet prior to ICANN and agree on a communique that was delivered to the ICANN board is a big step; the African community also organized a Dot Africa forum which provided a platform for discussions and openness," said Pierre Dandjinou, former AfriNIC board chair and one of the .africa leaders within AU.