Section 28(3) and 34(2) of the Civil Registration Act mandate that the civil register, which contains personal data of residents, be maintained and kept at the chiefdom, district and national level. Likewise, the personal registration file should be kept at the region, district or chiefdom of the individual. This is applicable to personal data stored in the Civil Register.

There is a requirement for telecommunications operators to obtain licenses. Yet, the approval for a license is not required for agreements between two local companies. Also, the licensing regime is reported to be restrictive, as it imposes lengthy lengthy processes on new market entrants. According to Section 20 of the Telecommunications Act, no person shall engage in any activity as a telecommunications operator unless they have been licensed for that purpose by the National Telecommunication Commission (NATCOM). Section 2 of the Telecommunications (Licensing) Regulations confirms the need for business licenses and authorisations for telecommunications, broadband communications and ancillary services in Sierra Leone.
Section 50 of the Telecommunications Act places additional scrutiny on agreements between local and foreign public telecommunications companies. It states that all agreements between local and foreign telecommunications companies should be submitted to the Commission for approval or modification of any terms. In considering the agreement for approval, the Commission shall take into account any exclusionary or discriminatory practices of the foreign-based service providers and telecommunications authorities and shall ensure that the local service providers are not subjected to unreasonable terms or discrimination.

Sierra Leone has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that Sierra Leone does not mandate functional or accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

The fixed network operator the incumbent "Sierratel" is a state-owned monopoly. It is the only provider in the fixed landline segment of the Industry. The infrastructure loss as a result of the civil war affected the operations of the operator. It has since launched mobile telecoms services, with about 3% of the market share.
Although the telecommunications sector has been liberalised, it is reported that one of the major obstacles for affordable broadband internet in Sierra Leone is the de-facto monopoly and inefficient operation of the international gateway by the state-owned Sierra Leone Cable Limited (SALCAB). The Telecommunications Act was amended in 2015 with the aim to liberalize the international gateway through a repeal and replacement of Section (33) of the 2006 Telecommunications Act to curtail the monopoly of incumbent Sierratel over the international gateway, but there have been delays in the liberalisation of the gateway.

It is reported that there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Sierra Leone to deliver telecom services to end users. It is practiced in the mobile sector and in the fixed sector based on commercial agreements.

Sierra Leone does not have a framework on trade secret protection. Some trade secrets provisions can be found in the Right to Access Information Act, which restricts a public authority from communicating information obtained from a third party where the disclosure of the information would divulge a trade secret or could prejudice the commercial interests of that third party.

Sierra Leone has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Sierra Leone has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Sierra Leone has a clear regime of copyright exceptions that follows the fair dealing model, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. The fair dealing provisions are contained in Sections 9 and 14 of the Copyright Act, while the provisions highlighting other instances of permitted use of copyrighted materials can be found in Sections 27-37. The exceptions include: private reproduction for personal purpose, temporary reproduction, reproduction in the form of quotation, reproduction for teaching, libraries and archives, broadcasting and other communication to the public, publication of portraits in events of public interest, reproduction and adoption of computer programmes, importation for personal purposes, display of works, and ephemeral recordings, among others.

Although Sections 72-73 of the Copyrights Act provide for civil remedies and criminal sanctions for unauthorised use of copyrighted materials, there are still cases of piracy of protected works in the country. It is reported that legal protection is weak and inadequate, and there is limited enforcement of intellectual property laws due to resource and capacity limitations.

Sierra Leone is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

According to Section 11(3) of the Patents and Industrial Act, applicants whose ordinary residence or principal place of business is outside Sierra Leone have to be represented by an agent based in Sierra Leone.

It is reported that there is minimal government enforcement of patents and other forms of Intellectual Property due to resource and capacity limitations. As a result, the administration of justice has largely relied on the customary and usual claims founded on either torts, contracts, petitions, admiralty and criminal offences to the exclusion of Laws specific to Intellectual Property.

Although Section 247 of the Companies Act requires companies to keep a register of its directors, including their names, nationality, and usual residential address, it does not state whether any of the directors are required to reside in the country. However, Section 485 of the Act mandates foreign companies operating in Sierra Leone to submit some documents/information, which includes, among other things, the name, address and occupation of the person authorised to manage the company in Sierra Leone; and the names and addresses of one or more persons resident in Sierra Leone authorised to accept on behalf of the company service of process and any notices required to be served on the company. The provisions of Section 485 suggest that an officer or a representative of the company is required to be resident in Sierra Leone.
In addition, Section 14 of the Companies Regulations of 2015 provides that foreign nationals may hold equity in any private business enterprise and undertake any type of business in Sierra Leone, but foreign nationals serving as executive directors shall submit to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) residence and work permit before undertaking, in part or whole, any business enterprise in Sierra Leone. The need to submit residence and work permits to the CAC suggests they are expected to be resident in the country.