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

Guinea-Bissau does not have a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. In particular, the country has established provisions addressing disclosure, acquisition or use of confidential information in the course of industrial or commercial activities by third parties in Art. 6 of Annex VIII of the Bangui Agreement, which has been ratified by 17 States, including Guinea-Bissau in 2002.

According to Art. 1 of Decree No. 21/2013, there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Guinea-Bissau to deliver telecom services to end users.

Some activities, including fixed telephone services, are reportedly not open to domestic or foreign private investment in Guinea-Bissau. This is despite the fact that no restrictions are found in the current legislation. In fact, Art. 6 of the Investment Code (Law No. 3/2011) states that in accordance with this Code and other laws, foreign and domestic investors enjoy equal treatment before the State and all its institutions. In addition, the Basic Law on Information and Communications Technology (Law No. 5/2010) does not contain any restrictions on market access for foreign suppliers. Yet, for fixed telephony, the state-owned operator Guiné Telecom is the only provider of these services. In 1989, the government created Guiné Telecom. At the time, Portugal Telecom (PT) took a stake in the company, but in 2010, it withdrew its participation in the country's monopoly. In 2013, the government declared Guiné Telecom bankrupt, and the company was effectively shut down, but in September 2021, it was announced that it would resume operations in the country. In that month, Guiné Telecom was granted a new concession, Single Individual Licence No. GNB01SFT2021, to operate as a network and infrastructure operator and provider of fixed telecommunications services throughout Guinea-Bissau. In 2023, it was reported that Guinea-Bissau was looking to sell shares in Guiné Telecom.

The government owns shares in certain telecom companies. In particular, Guiné Telecom (Companhia de Telecomunicações da Guiné-Bissau) is a state-owned company and has a monopoly on the fixed-line network. Moreover, Guinetel, which operates in the mobile telecom sector, is a subsidiary of the Guiné Telecom. It is reported that the government launched a proposal for the privatisation of state-owned telecom companies, which is still ongoing.

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

According to Art. 66 of Decree-Law No. 20/2012, there is a community preference. When a public contract or delegation of public service is awarded, preference must be given to the bid submitted by a community company from the West African Economic Monetary Union - WAEMU community. The Community preference must be quantified in the form of a percentage of the bid amount of the offer. This percentage is set at 15%, and the Community preference margin must be provided in the tender document. In addition, according to Art. 30, in case of a contract with a local authority or one of the public entities, a candidate intending to subcontract at least 30% of the total contract value to a company from a national company may benefit from an additional preference margin up to 5%.

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

It is reported that some activities, including fixed telephone services, are reportedly closed to domestic or foreign private investment in Guinea-Bissau. This is despite the fact that no restrictions are found in the current legislation. In fact, Art. 6 of the Investment Code (Law No. 3/2011) states that in accordance with this Code and other laws, foreign and domestic investors enjoy equal treatment before the State and all its institutions. In addition, the Basic Law on Information and Communications Technology (Law No. 5/2010) does not contain any restrictions on market access for foreign suppliers. Yet, for fixed telephony, the state-owned operator Guiné Telecom is the only provider of these services. In 1989, the government created Guiné Telecom. At the time, Portugal Telecom (PT) took a stake in the company, but in 2010, it withdrew its participation in the country's monopoly. In 2013, the government declared Guiné Telecom bankrupt, and the company was effectively shut down, but in September 2021, it was announced that it would resume operations in the country. In that month, Guiné Telecom was granted a new concession, Single Individual Licence No. GNB01SFT2021, to operate as a network and infrastructure operator and provider of fixed telecommunications services throughout Guinea-Bissau. In 2023, it was reported that Guinea-Bissau was looking to sell shares in Guiné Telecom.

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

According to Art. 3 of the Telecom Fraud Offences Proclamation, the import, assembly, sale, manufacturing, or even use of any telecom equipment (which includes any apparatus and software used for telecom services) without a prior permit from the government is prohibited. Failure to comply with this rule is a crime punishable with imprisonment and a fine.

Ethiopia is reported to experience regular logistical delays due in part to inefficiencies in the customs process, which significantly affect the import process. In addition, monopolistic conditions in the multimodal transport market and insufficient infrastructure make it difficult for private-sector logistics companies to operate. Logistics costs usually represent between 22% and 27% of the final cost of the product, and transport and freight costs are 60% higher than in neighbouring countries. Customs administrative difficulties are compounded by the fact that Ethiopia is landlocked, and more than 90% of its foreign trade depends on a single port in Djibouti, which suffers from inadequate infrastructure and inefficient customs procedures.

The legal framework on standards does not allow for self-certification for radio transmission, electromagnetic interference (EMI) or electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) through a Supplier Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) for both domestic and foreign business. However, Article 23.5 of the Communications Proclamation No. 1148/2019 states that the Authority may conduct a stakeholder consultation to permit the importation and use of radiocommunication and telecommunications equipment that has been approved by internationally recognised testing bodies that the Authority may designate by a Directive.