According to Art. 30.1 of Decree No. 79/2022 (which repeals Decree No. 5/2016), the following margins of preference shall apply to domestic bidders: (i) 15% of the contract value, excluding taxes, for public works contracts and contracts for the provision of services to domestic bidders; and (ii) 20% of the contract value, excluding taxes, for goods that are or have been produced in the country.
National or domestically produced products are considered to be those produced entirely in the country or those manufactured which, in the transformation process, must have an incorporation of national factors of at least 35% and, in the case of services, at least 60% of the wage bill must correspond to the remuneration of national workers (Art. 30.2). In addition, in accordance with Art. 30.5, in the case of goods, the producer's declaration model must demonstrate the incorporation of domestic factors, the value of which must correspond to at least 35% of the ex-works price of the finished product.

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

There are no foreign ownership limitations in sectors relevant for digital trade.

Art. 22 of Law No. 8/2023 (which repealed the previus Investment Law No. 3/1993) establishes a screening regime for foreign investment projects considered sensitive due to their potential economic, environmental, security, or public health impacts, as well as for large-scale undertakings. This regime also applies to public-private partnership ventures, business concessions, and projects requiring at least 10,000 hectares of land, among others. According to Art. 16 of Decree No. 8/2024, applicants within this authorisation regime must submit detailed technical, economic, and financial feasibility studies to prove the viability of their projects. In contrast, projects not subject to the authorisation regime are only required to undergo a registration regime, which mandates the submission of an investment proposal without the need for comprehensive feasibility studies.

Under Art. 5 of the Electronic Transactions Law, the domain name regulation falls under the competence of the National Institute of Information and Communication Technologie - INTIC (Regulatory entity), which can grant the registration or assign this function to third parties (agents). According to Art. 8 Decree No. 82/2020, only national entities providing internet DNS services, ICT service providers and foreign companies with a branch in Mozambique can be eligible and qualify as domain registration agents.

Although foreign patents might be recognised or registered in Mozambique (upon the payment of a fee amounting to MZN 5,400, equivalent to USD 84), there is a requirement to have a local representative when applying for the registration. According to the Industrial Property Code, if the applicant is a resident (based or with registered offices in Mozambique), the application for registration may be filed directly with Intellectual Property Institute (IPI) with no need to appoint an Intellectual Property official agent. On the contrary, if the applicant is not domiciled or resident in Mozambique, they must be represented by a Mozambican Intellectual Property Agent.

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

Mozambique has a copyright regime under the Copyright Act. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Arts. 9-20 lists the exceptions, which include reproduction for private purposes; reproduction in the form of a quotation; use for educational purposes; among others.

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

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

There is no comprehensive regulatory framework for trade secrets in Mozambique, but the Industrial Property Code covers general principles applicable to trade secrets. Art. 213.3 considers it an offence of unlawful competition to remove, disclose or use confidential data or information relating to the production or use of certain products or processes or relating to the provision of services of a competitor without their consent and in a manner which is contrary to honest commercial practices, provided that such information is secret, in the sense that it is not known or easily accessible to persons in circles that usually deal with the kind of information in question, either as a whole or in the specific configuration and assembly of its components; has a commercial value because it is secret; has been subject to reasonable precautions, taken by the person lawfully in control of the information, under the circumstances, to keep it secret.

It is reported that there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Mozambique to deliver telecom services to end users. It is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements.

Tmcel - Moçambique Telecom SA, a state-owned enterprise, was once the monopoly holder in the telecommunications sector but has since lost its dominant position. Despite its state ownership, Tmcel no longer leads the market, with Vodacom SA now commanding the largest market share, holding 49% of subscribers.

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