Regulation 7 of the Communications (Subscriber Identity Module Registration) Regulations of 2021 requires licensees (entities licensed by the Lesotho Communications Authority to provide and facilitate communications services) to register subscriber information. Licensees must capture, register, and retain the personal information of subscribers who request SIM registration and activation, following the registration specifications, at no cost to the subscriber.

It is reported that Lesotho does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation.

Lesotho has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

According to the Lesotho Telecommunications Act, the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Section 52 of the Data Protection Act of 2012 provides that the transfer of personal information abroad is permitted when the laws of the destination country are substantially similar to the information protection principles in Lesotho or when other conditions are met, including the data subject consent to the transfer, the use of binding corporate rules, or the necessity of the transfer for the performance of a contract between the data subject and data controller.

Lesotho has not joined any free trade agreement committing to open transfers of cross-border data flows.

The Data Protection Act provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Lesotho. The Act sets out data subject rights, data processing notifications and the legal bases for processing. However, the Data Protection Commission provided for in the Data Protection Act is yet to be established.

Section 11.3(f) of the Companies Act of 2011 requires companies to provide names and addresses of one or more persons resident in Lesotho with authority to act on behalf of the company, while Section 17(b) of the Companies Regulations of 2012 explicitly makes it mandatory for the company to have a company secretary resident in Lesotho.

According to Art. 4 of the Business Licensing and Registration Act 2019 (BLRA 2019), foreign investors are required to provide a capital of 2 Million LSL (approx. 105,000 USD) or provide proof of investment of this amount during registration or renewal of their traders’ licenses or to have deposited USD 123,152 with a local institution.

Although Lesotho does not have a formal screening mechanism, it is reported the government routinely screens foreign direct investment to check if it is consistent with the country's national interests.

It is reported that Lesotho procurement laws and policies require that entities have to first register as legal entities, apply for trading licenses, and register with the Lesotho Revenue Authority for tax purposes in order to apply for public procurement.

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

Lesotho has a copyright regime under the Copyright Order of 1989. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Art 20 lists the exceptions, which include personal and teaching purposes, borrowing expressions of folklore for creating an original work of an author or authors inspired by folklore, among others.

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

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