The eNaira launch has been talked about and anticipated for quite some time now. Our previous article panned out everything you need to know about the eNaira and the proposed date for the launch, which was supposed to coincide with Nigeria’s independence day celebration. But, unfortunately, the eNaira launch was postponed, which has raised concern among Nigerians looking forward to the launch.
Mr Osita Nwanisobi, the CBN’s Director of Communication, announced a postponement of the launch of Nigeria’s first digital currency, the eNaira, which was previously scheduled to hold on October 1, 2021.
“The CBN decided to postpone the launch, which had been initially planned to coincide with the Independence anniversary, in deference to the mood of national rededication to the collective dream of One Nigeria,” Nwanisobi stated.
Encouraging that there is no cause for alarm, he also stated that the CBN and other partners are committed to ensuring a seamless process that benefits consumers in general, especially those in rural areas and those who do not have access to banking.
Why Was The eNaira Launch Postponed?
The launch of the Central Bank’s digital currency, called “eNaira,” has been abruptly postponed due to an unanticipated spike in visitors to the eNaira initiative’s website.
Moreover, the spike prompted a recalculation of the number of prospective users, which the bank now estimates to be ten times higher than what was previously anticipated soon after the launch. As a result, the bank postponed the launch to verify and retest the eNaira system’s resilience, safety, scalability, and security.
The CBN’s eNaira was supposed to be launched on October 1; however, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, the CBN’s spokesman, said in Abuja that the CBN had chosen to postpone the launch, which had been intended to coincide with the country’s Independence Day celebration.
eNaira Launch Postponement: Underneath The Surface
According to sources, the CBN had planned to introduce the eNaira on October 1, 2021. Still, a continuous increase in website traffic necessitated a re-evaluation of the system that powers the digital currency.
The eNaira website had about 480,000 hits on its first day of operation. The next day, the number of visitors rose to over 1.7 million, and since then, it has averaged over 2.8 million daily.
Aside from gaining visitors, the website has seen increased usage, with time spent creating over 80 GB of data daily. This necessitated another stress test of the Central Bank’s systems to verify that they can survive an additional increase in traffic when they go live.
CBN appears to have learned from the miscalculated launch of Obamacare, which happened on October 1, 2013.
According to a Reuters report at the time, the website was unable to handle 500 users at a time in the testing phase, and tests with 2,000 people over three days failed. In addition, engineers ran performance tests right before launch, and the findings revealed capacity concerns that may disrupt the launch experience. Nonetheless, they went ahead, embarrassing President Obama.
To avoid a similar catastrophe, Nigeria’s Central Bank chose to postpone the launching until they are confident that their system would handle an influx of visitors.
eNaira Is Given Top Attention.
The Central Bank is taking the launch particularly seriously and is committed to making it a success. Over 12 directors and 75 staff members of the Central Bank are actively involved in guaranteeing the smooth introduction of the digital currency. The crew is camped out in a secure area, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to ensure everything runs well.
Sources reveal money had already been generated for the launch, and wallets had already been activated with chosen individuals actively involved in the launch.
Nigeria will be the first African country to launch a digital currency after the launch. According to the Central Bank, this effort would increase financial inclusion by bringing tens of millions more Nigerians into the banking system. The project is also intended to aid in assessing money supply and velocity and testing the economy’s transmission impact of government stimulus initiatives.
When then is the eNaira launch supposed to happen? Keep an eye out on our page, as we will update you as soon as we have information on the rescheduled date for the launch.
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