Namibia does not implement any de minimis threshold, which is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties.

The Electronic Transactions Act, Chapter 5, requires accreditation of security services and products including those which are meant to encrypt or decrypt data. This accreditation may involve the technical analysis of the services. The specific requirements for such technical analysis are not listed.

The regulator requires that applications for telecommunications equipment certification are made with the regulator. Third-party testing results of telecommunication equipment are not accepted.

It is reported that Namibia imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card, or a passport in case of foreigners, to activate a new prepaid SIM card.

Namibia has a safe harbour regime in place beyond intermediaries for copyright infringements. According to Chapter 6 of the Electronic Transactions Act, A service provider enjoys protection from any civil or criminal liabilities concerning third-party material presented in the form of data, to which they merely grant access through information system services for data transmission, routing, or storage within a system under their control. To qualify for this protection, the service provider must adhere to the following conditions: (a) they do not initiate the transmission; (b) they do not select the recipient; (c) they perform functions automatically and technically without data selection; and (d) they refrain from modifying the transmitted data.

Namibia has a safe harbour regime in place for intermediaries for copyright infringements. According to Chapter 6 of the Electronic Transactions Act, A service provider enjoys protection from any civil or criminal liabilities concerning third-party material presented in the form of data, to which they merely grant access through information system services for data transmission, routing, or storage within a system under their control. To qualify for this protection, the service provider must adhere to the following conditions: (a) they do not initiate the transmission; (b) they do not select the recipient; (c) they perform functions automatically and technically without data selection; and (d) they refrain from modifying the transmitted data.

Section 119 of the Communications Act stipulates that the Regulator "may prescribe a mandatory period for the retention of records which may not exceed eight years".

Namibia does not have a data protection framework, leaving an important void with regards to data governance and digital trade governance in the country. A Data Protection Bill is currently at consultation phase. This is set to support the Electronic Transactions Act which does not cover many aspects of data in a digital economy.

Namibia has not joined any free trade agreement committing to open transfers of cross-border data flows.

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

It is reported that the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

There are three telecommunications providers in Namibia, namely: Telecom Namibia Group, Mobile Telecommunications Limited, and Paratus Telecommunications. Two of these, Telecom Namibia Group and Mobile Telecommunications Limited, are the incumbent telecommunications providers and are also fully state-owned.

It is reported that Namibia does not mandate accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of functional separation.

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

Section 46 of the Communications Act restricts shareholding in the telecommunications sector to a maximum of 49% for foreigners or companies that are not owned and controlled by Namibian citizens.