NITDA Software Testing Licences Set Under SQA Framework

In Short

Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, plans to license tech firms that test software. The new Software Quality Assurance framework will make independent checks mandatory for federal government software projects from Q2 2027.

What Happened

NITDA introduced a National Software Quality Assurance, SQA, Framework to standardise how government, and some regulated private sector, IT projects are built and deployed.

Under the plan, federal government software projects must go through independent third-party testing and certification before they can be deployed. Think of it like an external vehicle inspection before a car is allowed on the road.

To support this, NITDA says it will begin accrediting Licensed Software Testing Organisations, LSTOs. The agency plans stakeholder engagement and capacity building nationwide, and says it will issue an Expression of Interest, EOI, for testing organisations seeking licences.

NITDA says the framework is signed under powers in the NITDA Act 2007 and will become a mandatory requirement for getting IT Project Clearance for government software projects starting in the second quarter of 2027.

The framework combines multiple regulatory tools into one standard. It includes a National Software Development Guideline that pushes structured development lifecycles, secure coding based on OWASP standards, standard documentation, and WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility rules for citizen-facing services. OWASP is a widely used checklist for common web security risks, and WCAG is a global standard for making digital services usable for people with disabilities.

Why It Matters

Nigeria has seen expensive public sector IT failures, and security gaps can become national risks. Third-party testing can reduce bugs, improve cybersecurity, and raise confidence in digital government services.

For local companies, licensed software testing could become a new, regulated market with clearer demand. NITDA also expects the policy to push more engineers and firms toward international quality and security certifications, and to create higher-skilled jobs.

If implemented well, the rules could also improve trust in Nigerian-developed software for export, and make public sector procurement more consistent for vendors bidding for government digital projects.