Art. 31 of the Ministerial Order No. 3/2020 requires economic agents operating public networks to facilitate access to their network centres and allow facility sharing.

It is reported that there is a lack of clarity about the applicable regulation on public procurement, which makes the procedures opaque, although a draft law on public procurement and contracts is reportedly under discussion. It is unclear whether the colonial-era Public Procurement Law No. 923/1965 of 8 April (amended by Decree No. 4/1980) is still in force. This older framework is reported to be incomplete, it does not meet international standards and does not ensure transparency in the award of contracts. As a result, most contracts are awarded by direct award.

According to the Law No. 6/1.990 on Special Regime for Investments of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), several fiscal, customs and administrative benefits are established for Equatoguinean SMEs, including preferential access to public bids in the branch of their activity (Art. 18). According to Art. 6, Equatoguinean SMEs are companies with the following characteristics: (i) they are owned by natural persons of Equatoguinean nationality; (ii) their share capital is represented by at least 51% by nationals and the management functions are effectively exercised by nationals; (iii) the annual turnover does not exceed 500,000,000 XAF (approx. USD 835,000). The special regime only applies in certain sectors, which are listed in Art. 8, which include manufacturing and graphics services.

Equatorial Guinea is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II) as it is not a member of the WTO.

According to Art. 4 of the Proclamation No. 173 of 2013, and Arts. 33-36 of the Proclamation No. 32 of 1993, all payment in the country are required to be in local currency, therefore requiring foreign firms to use local currency and payment methods in local currency.

It is reported that Eritrea’s legislation rigorously regulates capital flows, including the payment for the importation of goods and currency exchange, which results in a significant challenge for organisations in Eritrea to transfer foreign currency into or out of the country and to settle essential overseas bills. The National Bank of Eritrea is responsible for approving and managing all fund transfers into and out of the country, and has the authority to disapprove a transfer. Furthermore, local funds are not freely convertible to any world currency. The exchange rate is determined by the government and does not fluctuate. In addition, it has been alleged that the government is in breach of Article VIII of the International Monetary Fund (IMP) with regard to restrictions on payments and transfers for international transactions.

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

Eritrea does not have any legal provision regarding the consumer protection that is applicable to online commerce.

Eritrea has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

Eritrea has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Eritrea has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

It is reported that the authorities regularly block access to social media platforms and shutter internet cafés.

The indicator "6.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 1 in Eritrea. This corresponds to "The government shut down domestic access to the Internet numerous times this year."

According to Art. 5.2 of the Investment Proclamation No. 59/1994, foreign investment in domestic retail and wholesale trade, import, and commission agency is limited. The Government set a precondition of having a bilateral agreement of reciprocity with the country of the investor or if the Eritrean government waives this precondition. As a result, it is reported that the government strictly controls all imports and exports severely limiting foreign investment.