According to the Bangui Agreement, ratified by 17 French-speaking States, including Togo, applicants resident outside the territory of the Member States must file through an agent selected in one of those Member States (Section III, Art. 8). The professional status of agent accredited to the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) is governed by the Regulations on the profession of Authorised Agent before the OAPI.

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

Togo has a copyright regime under the law Law no. 91-12. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Arts. 20-24 list the exceptions, which include communications such as representation, performance, and broadcasting if they are private, performed exclusively within the family circle and do not give rise to any type of income; if they are conducted free of charge for strictly educational or school purposes or during a religious service in premises reserved for that purpose; among others.
The Revised Bangui Agreement is a regional intellectual property law that is not only a regional convention applicable in all member states but also serves as a national intellectual property law in Benin and each of the other member states. The Revised Bangui Agreement contains provisions on copyright in Annex VII: Chapter IV (Limitations to Economic Rights) and establishes a regime of copyright exceptions. Nevertheless, these exceptions similarly do not conform to the fair use or fair dealing models.

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

According to Art. 92 of Decree No. 2022-080/PR, which repeals Decree No. 2009 - 277/PR on the Code of Public Procurement and Public Service Delegations of 2009, in the award of a public contract and in order to encourage the participation of Community enterprises and very small, small and medium-sized domestic enterprises, a margin of preference shall be given to the bid that complies with the bidding or consultation documents and is submitted by a Community bidder. According to Art. 93, for public contracts awarded by international tender, a preference of up to 15% is given to candidates from Togolese law or West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) member states if certain conditions are met: (i) at least 50% of technical managers and staff are Togolese or WAEMU nationals; (ii) for firms and design offices, more than 50% of key personnel are from WAEMU; (iii) and for suppliers, goods must originate from Togo or WAEMU with at least 30% added value or be based on the bidder's nationality for imported goods.
Legal entities benefit if over half their share capital and management are controlled by Togolese or WAEMU nationals. Contracting authorities must apply a 15% preference to tenders subcontracting at least 30% of the contract to local SMEs and a 5% preference to bids by Togolese artisans or WAEMU-based craft enterprises, with this artisanal preference being cumulative with the Community preference.

According to Art. 33 of the Electronic Transactions Act, a person who intends to offer cryptographic or certification services shall apply to the regulator. Applicants must disclose a description of the technology to be applied to their services. It is unclear whether this can entail disclosure of trade secrets.

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

The domain registration requires local presence or representation. It is reported that a business should be registered locally (as a local or foreign business) to get the local domain (co.tz). After registering the company (which may require either local presence or representation), domain registration can then be done online.

The Electronic Transactions Act (Section 28-32) and the Electronic and Postal (Consumer Protection) Regulations 2018 provide a comprehensive framework for consumer protection that also applies to online transactions. However, both acts are reported to not offer online complaint resolution provisions, which can lower consumers' confidence to participate in the digital trade. Furthermore, Tanzania recognises e-signatures under several laws, including the Arbitration Act of 2020 (Section 87), the E-government Act of 2019 (Section 27), and the Electronic Transactions Act of 2015 (Section 6).

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

Tanzania has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

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

In 2024, Tanzania implemented a series of digital restrictions affecting access to websites and online platforms. In August, the government blocked the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) nationwide following the hacking of the Tanzania Police Force’s official account, which had been used to spread false information. The authorities cited national security concerns and warned that using VPNs to bypass the block could lead to legal penalties. Further actions included the October 2024 suspension of Mwananchi Communications Ltd.’s online platforms for 30 days, following the publication of content deemed threatening to national unity. Additionally, research by the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) documented the blocking of numerous websites and applications related to LGBTIQ issues, including Grindr, between January 2023 and January 2024, as well as restricted access to VPN services, Clubhouse, and 4chan.