Eritrea is reported to lack transparency in the area of copyright; in particular, there are reported difficulties in knowing the scope of IP protection, and there is a lack of data on enforcement and prosecutions on the ground.

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

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

It is reported that the de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is USD 200, following the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Equatorial Guinea lacks a comprehensive framework for consumer protection that applies to online transactions.

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

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

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

Online versions of some Spanish newspapers are reported to be regularly blocked. In 2022, it was reported that the independent media outlet AhoraEG was only accessible via a virtual private network.

It has been reported that the government blocked internet access during periods of political tension in both 2022 and 2023. In addition, 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 3 in Equatorial Guinea for the year 2023. This corresponds to "Rarely but there have been a few occasions throughout the year when the government shut down domestic access to Internet."

As per Art. 11 of Decree-Law No. 3/1980, which approves the Advertising Statute, advertising agencies are defined as companies that are duly authorised to professionally engage on behalf of third parties in creating, planning, executing, or distributing advertising campaigns through any means of dissemination. Art. 16 specifies that individuals or entities intending to participate in advertising activities must meet the requirements set by the Secretariat of State for Information and Tourism. They are also required to adhere to regulatory standards and register in the General Advertising Registry under the Technical Secretariat of the Department of Information and Tourism.
Art. 17 outlines the conditions necessary to obtain the licence, including (i) possession of the necessary capacity to engage in the trade; (ii) adoption of any of the constitutive forms of society for juridical persons; (iii) demonstration of necessary morality and proof of economic solvency.

Art. 17 of Law No. 1/2016 stipulates that any mechanism or system for storing, archiving, structuring and accessing citizens' personal data (referred to as "ficheros" in the law, that is "databases") may be created by private initiative only with the appropriate concession or administrative authorisation from the competent authority. In addition, according to Arts. 19 and 20, the project must be notified in advance to the Data Protection Authority, which must include the following information:
- The purpose of the database and its intended use;
- The persons or categories of persons from whom personal data are to be obtained or who are required to supply them;
- The address and location of the database;
- The basic and technical structure of the file and a description of the types of personal data it contains;
- The established procedure for obtaining personal data;
- The conditions governing the communication of personal data and their communication to third parties;
- The bodies or persons responsible for the database;
- The bodies to which the rights of access, rectification, cancellation and opposition may be exercised;
- The security measures in place, with an indication of the level applicable, whether basic, medium or high;
- The registration and notification data.

Equatorial Guinea requires licences for imports of goods valued at over 50,000 CFA francs (approx. USD 83). This must be done through an authorised bank, and pre-shipment inspection is required for most goods. Companies in Equatorial Guinea have indicated that the need to obtain prior authorisations or licences for imports is one of the most cumbersome parts of the trade process and that licences have an ad valorem cost of up to 10% of the trade value.

It is reported that foreign investors must comply with local content rules, which vary by sector. A certain percentage of local content must be included in goods and technologies produced by companies with foreign investors. In addition, local content rules require that foreign workers not exceed 10% of the total workforce. It is also reported that local content rules are applied inconsistently, creating disincentives for foreign investment.