The world has increasingly gone digital and so has the conduct of business – to a large extent. The central point of this digitalization is the internet.
Many Nigerian businesses now have some form of online presence whether in form of a social media handle or a full-blown e-commerce platform. Whatever form the online business presence is, a unique identity in the form of a domain name would still be necessary.
Who needs a Domain Name?
Everyone, every business, every entity that aims to build a brand online needs a domain name. A domain name is the best way to have a truly unique identity on the web and stand out effectively from the massive crowd. An example of a domain name is web4africa.ng – in this case, the Nigerian website address of the web hosting company Web4Africa.
Why a Domain Name?
You may wonder why you would still need a domain name when you can make do with a simple Instagram account, for example? A domain name does not necessarily compete with a social media account – they complement each other.
- Brand Identity: To some extent, a domain name is a truly unique identity that can you truly call yours. A social media account is subject to the social network’s terms and conditions and may be subjected to a suspension or outright deletion at their whim sometimes with no recourse.
- Email: a business email address that is based on your own domain name commands more respect than ones that are free-of-charge like @yahoo.com or @gmail.com. Where you intend to grow big, it is much better to use your own domain for your email addresses. Where you are on a budget, you can usually get Email Forwarding and forward same to your free email address.
- Website: having a business website is the best way to establish your web identity. Where you are making use of a free website builder or not, a domain name is always much better than a free sub-domain.
- Protective Registration: where you do not intend to setup a website for your business, it is still advisable to defensively register your company’s name as a domain name in other to avoid the case of cyber squatters hijacking your online identity.
Which type of Domain Name to Register?
If you are a Nigerian individual or entity, a .ng domain name may be the best for identifying your business online as being Nigerian.
If you wish to target other African countries, you cannot go wrong with a .africa domain name.
Where the international marketplace is your target, there are hundreds of domain types to choose from that fit into just about any category that you can imagine.
Ideally, you simply make use of your business name or brand name in registering a domain name.
How to Register a Domain Name?
When you have decided on the type of domain name to register, you can make use of the Domain Name Search form on the website of a leading domain registrar like Web4Africa, to check availability and find the most ideal domain(s) for your business.
The form would return results showing the names that are available, as well as their respective prices. The domain would typically be registered instantly once your payment is successful.
About Web4Africa
Established in 2002, Web4Africa is a leading ICANN & NiRA Accredited Domain Name Registrar offering hundreds of domain name types to clients worldwide. Visit web4africa.ng to learn more.
Oluniyi D. Ajao
NAME: ABONYI AMAKA MARY
REG NO: 2018/241874
DEPARTMENT: ECONOMICS
1. What can be learned from the historical record of economic progress in the now developed world? Are the initial conditions similar or different for contemporary developing countries from what the developed countries face on the eve of their industrialization?
There are several things to learn from the historical record of economic progress in the now developed world. These lessons include the following:
The importance of agriculture: The first major lesson was that there is a close connection between the rate of growth in the output of the agricultural sector and the general rate of economic development. The high rates of economic growth are associated with the rapid expansion of agricultural output and low rates of economic growth with the slow growth of agriculture. Agriculture forms a large part of the total domestic product and of the exports of the developing countries. Taiwan and South Korea, with some of the highest population densities in the world, were able to expand their agricultural output rapidly by a vigorous pursuit of appropriate policies. These included the provision of adequate irrigation facilities, enabling a succession of crops to be grown on the same piece of land throughout the year; the use of high-yielding seeds and fertilizers, which raised the yields per acre in a dramatic fashion; provision of adequate incentives for producers by setting producer prices at reasonable levels; and improvements in credit and marketing facilities and a general improvement in the economic organization of the agricultural sector. Agricultural development is important because it raises the incomes of the mass of the people in the countryside; in addition, it increases the size of the domestic market for the manufacturing sector and reduces internal economic disparities between the urban centres and the rural areas.
The role of exports: Another lesson to learn from the historical record of developed countries is the role of exports. Developed countries were characterized by rapid expansion in exports. The export expansion was not confined to those countries fortunate in their natural resources, such as the oil-exporting countries. Some of the developing countries were able to expand their exports in spite of limitations in natural resources by initiating economic policies that shifted resources from inefficient domestic manufacturing industries to export production. There was a very rapid expansion of exports of labour-intensive manufactured goods. This phenomenon occurred not only in the extremely rapidly growing, newly industrialized countries —Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, as well as Hong Kong.
Therefore, the initial conditions are similar. The difference is the people’s attitude to work and life. There is respect for human dignity, the natural environment, and respect for people. Here, the development plan is structured to incorporate everyone in the society.
2. What are economic institutions, and how do they shape problems of underdevelopment and prospects for successful development?
Economic institutions are formal and informal rules that organize the economic flow and activity in an economy. It is also a system of rules and norms that governs the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It is one of the basic institutions because it helps in determining the aggregate economic growth potential of the economy. They include; central banks, commercial banks, microfinance institutions, development finance institutions, organizations like NAFDAC e. t. c
Central bank: A central bank is a financial institution that is responsible for overseeing the monetary system and policy of a nation or group of nations, regulating its money supply, and setting interest rates. The central bank must regulate the level of inflation by controlling money supplies by means of monetary policy. One of the ways through which the central bank shapes the economy is the use of open market operation. The central bank performs an open market operation (OMO) that either injects the market with liquidity or absorbs extra funds, directly affecting the level of inflation. To increase the amount of money in circulation and decrease the interest rate (cost) for borrowing, the central bank can buy government bonds, bills, or other government-issued notes. This buying can, however, also lead to higher inflation. When it needs to absorb money to reduce inflation, the central bank will sell government bonds on the open market, which increases the interest rate and discourages borrowing. Open market operations are the key means by which a central bank controls inflation, money supply, and prices.
Microfinance Institutions: These are institutions that provide financial services to the poor. They shape the economy by rendering services to the poor. These services include: to improve the quality of life of the poor by providing access to financial and support services; to be a viable financial institution developing sustainable communities; to mobilize resources in order to provide financial and support services to the poor, particularly women, for viable productive income generation enterprises enabling them to reduce their poverty; Learn and evaluate what helps people to move out of poverty faster.
Development Finance Institutions: A development financial institution (DFI), also known as a development bank or development finance company (DFC), is a financial institution that provides risk capital for economic development projects on a noncommercial basis. Development banks do not provide medium-term and long-term loans only but they help industrial enterprises in many other ways too. These banks subscribe to the bonds and debentures of the companies, underwrite to their shares and debentures and, guarantee the loans raised from foreign and domestic sources. They also help undertakings to acquire machinery from within and outside the country
3. How can the extremes between rich and poor be so very great?
The gap between the rich and the poor in this country is growing ever wider and many factors have led to this. They include; Inequitable distribution of resources, government policies that benefit the rich only, accessibility to basic amenities (education, health, good roads, etc). Many governments are culpable for enacting negative policies which are detrimental to the poor. For example, some governments make policies that under-tax private corporations and wealthy individuals and underfund public services like education and healthcare. The rich can afford to fly abroad for fitting medical care; they can also afford to send their children abroad for proper and quality education. now, the poor cannot afford to go abroad for proper medical care or be able to send their children abroad to attain quality education which is lacking in the country. Also, factors like lack of adequate credit facilities, corruption, insecurity, etc., further serve to widen the income disparity between the rich and the poor.
4. What are the sources of national and international economic growth? Who benefits from such growth and why? Why do some countries make rapid progress toward development while others remain poor?
Sources of national and international growth include the following;
Natural resources
Human capital
Technology
Innovation
Socal and Political structure
Trade
Industrialization, e.t.c
Economic growth is a means to an end that is, a better life for the masses which implies that the masses benefit from it. But today, almost none of the gains from economic growth is accrued to the bottom half of the population.
Some countries make rapid progress toward development while others remain poor because most of these less developed countries rely on only one source of economic growth which is natural resources while developed countries make use of more than sources of economic growth.