Regulation & Approvals
ICANN's 2026 gTLD Round Draws 16 African Applications, 10 From One Seychelles Company
By News Desk ·
Key takeaways
- ICANN published 1,615 new gTLD applications on October 7, 2026, of which 16 came from Africa.
- Innovation Service Limited, a Seychelles company controlled by Lu Heng, submitted 10 of the 16 African applications.
- Lu also controls Cloud Innovation, which holds approximately 6.2 million IPv4 addresses allocated by AFRINIC.
ICANN published 1,615 applications for its next expansion of Internet domain names on October 7, 2026, of which 16 came from Africa. EIN Presswire reported that Innovation Service Limited, a Seychelles company controlled by businessman Lu Heng, submitted 10 of those African applications, or 62.5% of the regional total.
Innovation Service's Ten African Applications
Innovation Service's 10 original applications are .connect, .donate, .faq, .fix, .larus, .real, .send, .uid, .visit and .vpn. The portal also displays replacement strings, including .nrs as the alternative attached to .larus. Counting those alternatives as additional applications would inflate the total, and the records concern applications awaiting evaluation rather than extensions already awarded.
In the .faq application, questions 104 to 108 identify Heng Lu as director, officer or partner, material shareholder, executive and ultimate controller. The company declares Seychelles incorporation as an International Business Company. These disclosures establish control, although they do not reveal his exact equity percentage.
The other six African applications come from Kenya Network Information Center for .safari, South Africa's HOST AFRICA for .lodge, and four Mauritius companies seeking .audit, .therapy, .voice and .wealth. Africa's share of the global total is approximately 0.99%. In 2012, it submitted 17 applications out of 1,930, a fall of one in absolute terms after 14 years.
ICANN's 2026 Round by the Numbers
According to akta.pro company records, ICANN opened the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round application window from April 30 to August 12, 2026, the first generic top-level domain expansion in 14 years, expanding Internationalized Domain Name support to 27 scripts at $227,000 per application. The same records show ICANN's annual operating budget at approximately $150 million and more than 450 global employees worldwide.
At the standard evaluation fee of $227,000, 10 applications represent a benchmark of $2.27 million before any applicable reductions, refunds or operating costs. That does not establish Innovation Service's actual payment.
Earlier Steps in ICANN's 2026 Round
ICANN appointed PwC to conduct mandatory background checks on applicants for its 2026 new gTLD round, reviewing corporate standing, ownership and eligibility after a competitive procurement process, EIN Presswire reported in October 2026. Identity Digital applied for 216 new top-level domain extensions spanning 13 categories including AI, web3, commerce and finance, FinancialContent Business Page reported in October 2026. Crypto Briefing reported the same month that the round includes a replacement-string period and confirmation day.
What Comes Next for Applicants
ICANN will publish all 1,616 proceeding gTLD applications on October 7, 2026, at 18:00 UTC, with a withdrawal refund deadline of November 27 and a community objection period through March 16, 2027, The National Law Review reported. ICANN's planned DNSSEC root zone Key Signing Key rollover is scheduled for October 11, 2026, according to akta.pro company records.