Cabo Verde has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

The Law No. 133-V-2001 provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Cabo Verde, and it is enforced by the "Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados Pessoais" (CNPD, National Commission of Data Protection), which became operational in 2015.

Art. 29.1 of Law No. 133/V/2001, as amended in 2021, provides for an assessment of the impact of the planned processing operations on the protection of personal data whenever a particular type of processing, in particular one using new technologies, is likely to involve a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, taking into account its nature, scope, context and purpose. Moreover, Art. 30.1 of the law requires the controller and the processor to appoint a data protection officer (DPO) and Art. 30.2 allows a group of companies to appoint a single DPO.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability for copyright infringements is absent in Cabo Verde law and jurisprudence.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in Cabo Verde's law and jurisprudence.

Cabo Verde has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Cabo Verde has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Cabo Verde lacks a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. Art. 271 of Legislative Decree No. 4/2007 of 20 August 2007, approving the Intellectual Property Code (Decreto-Legislativo No. 4/2007, de 20 de Agosto, que aprova o Código da Propriedade Intelectual) states that it is an administrative offence to disclose, acquire or use a competitor's business secrets without their consent, provided that the information:
- is secret, in the sense that it is not generally known or easily accessible, in its entirety or in the exact configuration and connection of its constituent elements, to persons in the circles that normally deal with the type of information in question;
- has commercial value by virtue of its secrecy;
- has been the subject of considerable efforts, appropriate to the circumstances, by the person lawfully in control of the information to keep it secret.

Cabo Verde is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Art. 99.4 of the Public Procurement Code provides that factors may be foreseen that grant greater weight to bids submitting goods produced, extracted or farmed in Cabo Verde or relating to services provided or supplies made by entities of Cabo-Verdean nationality or with registered offices in Cabo-Verdean territory. Moreover, Art. 13 states that, in the contract formation procedure, all factors contributing to the promotion of national economic development, production development, procurement, industry and services of Cabo Verde, as well as compliance with national social policies, shall be considered.

Cabo Verde is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), nor does it have observer status.

There are no foreign ownership limitations in sectors relevant to digital trade, as confirmed by Decree-Law No. 34/2013.

It is reported that an approval process serves as a screening mechanism for inbound foreign investment. The process begins with the submission of a formal expression of interest to the investment promotion agency Cabo Verde TradeInvest in accordance with the Investment Law. Relevant government entities (depending on the sector and the nature of the investment) then conduct an integrated review of the investment project and provide an opinion. If the opinion is favourable, Cabo Verde TradeInvest, in coordination with relevant agencies, approves the project and issues an investor certificate no later than 45 days from the submission of interest.

Art. 226 of the Legislative Decree approving the Intellectual Property Code provides that the applicant must appoint a representative in Cabo Verde in the case of patent applications filed by interested parties (natural or legal persons) who are not domiciled or established in Cabo Verde. However, the interested party or the holder of the right, whether natural or legal, domiciled or resident in Cabo Verde, is free to present his applications for industrial property titles in person or to have them presented by a recognised lawyer (Art. 225(1)).