The Inventions, Minor Inventions and Industrial Designs Proclamation No. 123/1995 assigns the same protection to local and foreign rights holders, once the foreign patents are re-registered in Ethiopia. However, according to Art. 9.7, an applicant who is not domiciled or who has not established business in Ethiopia shall appoint an agent who is domiciled in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is not a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

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

Law No. 649/2009 gives some preferential treatment to domestic goods or services suppliers over foreign suppliers in some cases. Art. 25 states that some preference margin can be granted for works carried out by Ethiopian nationals and for consultancy services rendered by Ethiopian nationals. The preferences can also be extended to SMEs that are established in accordance with the Small and Micro-Enterprises Proclamation. The Law mandates the Minister to issue directives determining the preference margin.
According to the Federal Government Public Procurement Directive of June 2020, preference margins are prescribed in Art. 16.20.2 as follows:
- For procurement of medical equipment: 25%;
- For procurement of other products: 15%;
- For construction and consultancy services: 7.5%.
For SMEs, these margins in Art. 16.20.2 only applies in International Competitive bidding as per Art. 16.20.5 of the Directive, in contrast to a 3% margin when competing with local suppliers in national competitive bidding. The provision of preferences granted to medical equipment or other products is subject to an additional requirement of not less than 35% of the production occurring in Ethiopia, certified by a competent auditor as per Art. 16.20.3 of the Directive.

It is reported that major procurements do not go through a transparent tendering process. Obstacles to foreign participation in government procurement tenders include complicated and inadequately established procedures, capacity gaps on the part of procurement agencies, delays in decision-making, lack of public information, and the need for personal connections to effectively compete. According to the report, at least one large company has had its multi-million-dollar contract with the government abruptly modified with little explanation and no apparent due process.

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

The Investment Regulation No. 474/2020, implementing the Investment Proclamation No. 1180/2020, reserves some areas of investment just for domestic investors. Art. 4.22 exclusively reserves investment in media services for domestic investors only. Complementary to the investment regulation, the Media Proclamation No. 1238/2021, under Art. 22 .1 reserves investment in the media sector for Ethiopian nationals only. The Media Proclamation defines media as "news agencies and all organs established to provide news or programs or news and programs to the public via periodicals, broadcasting service, and online media".

According to Art. 5(1/f/) and 5.2 of the Investment Regulation No. 474/2020, foreign share capital in audiovisual services, including film/music production and distribution, is capped at 49%. It is not clear whether this restriction also applies online.

Art. 5 (1/e/) of the Investment Regulation No. 474/2020 (which implements the Investment Proclamation No. 1180/2020) reserves some areas of investment including advertisement and promotion for joint investment with domestic investors only. In other words, a foreign investor can only invest in the advertisement service sector in joint venture with an Ethiopian domestic investor. The scope of the law includes advertisement disseminated through the internet website being designed in Ethiopia or abroad (Section 3.3). Previously there was a ban to foreign investment in the advertising sector.

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

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

Eswatini 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 accordance with the provisions of Sections 10, 11, 13 and 40 of the Electronic Communications Act, the Minister of Information, Communications, and Technology promulgated the Electronic Communications (Licensing) Regulations and the Electronic Communications (Importation, Type Approval and Distribution of Communications Equipment) Regulations. In accordance with Regulation 16 of the Importation, Type Approval and Distribution of Communications Equipment Regulations, it is unlawful for any individual or entity to supply, import or distribute radio communications equipment unless they have been granted a licence by the Commission as specified in Section 41.1 of the Act. Furthermore, Regulation 4 of the Licensing Regulations empowers the Commission to issue a general licence for the importation, distribution or sale of electronic communications equipment. The Commission may grant any number of licences to an applicant who meets the criteria set out in the application and the general licence conditions.