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

According to Art. 76 of Decree No. 2015-604/P-RM, a preference shall be given to the tender submitted by a community company. A community company is defined as a company whose head office is located in a member state of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). This preference must be quantified in the form of a percentage of the bid amount up to 15%. The terms and conditions of the application of community preference, particularly with regard to the types of acquisition concerned and their beneficiaries, are determined by the WAEMU Commission.

Art. 5.2 of Decree No. 2018-0473/PM-RM provides that in the case of a contract awarded by a decentralised authority or one of its public establishments, a contract applicant who plans to subcontract at least 30% of the overall value of the contract to a Malian company, a Malian artisan or a Malian artisanal company, may benefit from a margin of preference not exceeding 5%, which may be added to the Community's right of preference under public procurement regulations. Also, the Decree states that the contracting authorities must ensure that a proportion of public contracts are subject to competition between Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Art. 5.4). On the other hand, according to Art. 11.1, a margin of preference of 25% is granted to products of Malian origin and/or to companies under Malian law whose capital is majority-owned by nationals for all types of contracts whose amounts do not reach the thresholds of public procurement. Furthermore, according to Art. 11.3, without prejudice to the provisions relating to national preference, when awarding a public contract or a public service delegation, a preference of 5% is given to the bid submitted by a craftsman or craft company with a fixed base or permanent establishment in Mali. This artisanal preference rate is cumulative, with a national preference rate of 15%, as referred to in Art. 11.1.

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

Art. 6 of Law No. 2012-016 provides that foreign investors receive the same treatment as investors of Malian nationality subject to provisions contrary to the laws or treaties and agreements concluded by the Republic of Mali with the States of which they are nationals. They may freely any share of equity of the company they plan to create, subject to the provisions applicable to the sectors of activity which are subject to specific regulations.

According to the Bangui Agreement, ratified by 17 French-speaking States, including Mali, applicants resident outside the territory of the Member States must file through an agent selected in one of those Member States (Section III, Art. 8). The professional status of agent accredited to the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) is governed by the Regulations on the profession of Authorised Agent before the OAPI.

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

According to Section 52-53 of the Electronic Transactions and CyberSecurity Act of 2016, cryptography services or products are required to be registered by the Communications Authority. Additionally, the use, importation, and exportation of encryption programs and encryption products are subject to authorisation by the government.

Section 96 of the Communications Act requires a licensee to use approved types of equipment for connection to an electronic network. The Communications Authority may, at the request of any licensee, manufacturer or supplier of equipment, conduct type approval tests and issue type approval certificates with respect to electronic communications equipment intended for use in Malawi. The Communication (Type Approval) Regulations, which provides for a list of approved, prohibited and exempted electronic equipment, is, however, in draft form, presently at the consultation stage.

Sections 52 and 53 of the Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act of 2016 require cryptography services or products to be registered with the Communications Authority. Furthermore, the use, importation, and exportation of encryption programs and products are subject to government authorisation. Section 67 of the Act mandates that encryption service providers disclose the technical characteristics of their encryption methods and the source code of the software used to the Authority. Non-compliance with these regulations constitutes a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment and a fine.

According to Section 18 of Payment Systems (E-money) Regulations, the Reserve Bank shall prescribe limits on transaction values and balance limits on e-money accounts for individual subscribers and agents. E-money accounts for corporate bodies shall be exempted from transaction and balance limits. In addition, for purposes of the Regulation, 'transaction limits' are established as the limits for the total value of transactions originating from a mobile money account and involving a transfer of e-value out of that account. According to the second annexe of the regulations, the maximum transaction limits are:
- K750,000.00 (approx. USD 737) per day for personal subscriber accounts;
- K20,000,000.00 (approx. USD 19,700) per day for agents; or
- K100,000,000.00 (approx. USD 98,300) per day for merchants.
In addition, the account balance limits are:
- K1,000,000.00 (approx. USD 980) on personal subscriber accounts;
- K25,000,000.00 (approx. USD 24,600) on agent accounts; or
- K100,000,000.00 (approx. USD 98,300) for merchants.

It is reported that the de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is USD 60, below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The law in Malawi provides for local presence requirements for payment systems operators. Section 14 of the Payment Systems Act requires all systems operators (i.e. non-bank financial institutions, mobile payment system operators, remittance service providers, card issuers, or other persons as licensed or authorised by the Reserve Bank) to have a registered office in the country.

The Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act of 2016 provides a comprehensive consumer protection framework that applies to online transactions. Consumer protection for online purchases is provided in Part V of the Act of 2016. Among others, the Act binds the supplier to deliver the goods or to provide the services immediately upon conclusion of the contract; mandates the supplier to make available security procedures and privacy policy in respect of payment, payment information, and personal information of the consumer; and gives rights to the consumer to withdrawal from a contract concluded by electronic means without giving reasons and without penalties.