It is reported that the "Agence de Régulation des Télécommunications" (ART), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

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

Law No. 2002/004 sets the main legal regime for investment in Cameroon. There are no limits on foreign ownership in any specific sector.

According to Art. 13 of Law No. 2006/018, foreign operators wishing to carry out any advertising activity in the territory of Cameroon must conclude an agreement of representation to this effect with a Cameroonian operator duly approved for the advertising profession concerned. This also applies to online advertising.

According to Art. 6 of Law No. 2006/018, any advertising company must have a principal officer (i.e. the person managing the enterprise and representing the latter in all acts of civil life) who is a Cameroonian national or, failing that, show proof of having fulfilled the conditions for foreigners to engage in commercial activities in Cameroon. This also applies to online advertising.

According to the Bangui Agreement, ratified by 17 French-speaking States, including Cameroon, 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.

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

Cameroon has a copyright regime under the law Law No. 2000/011 of 19 December 2000 on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Art. 29 outlines the exceptions, including private performances strictly within family circles, performances given free of charge for educational and academic purposes, and reproductions and transformations in one copy for the strictly personal and private use of the individual who makes them.
In addition, the Revised Bangui Agreement, which is a regional intellectual property law that is not only a regional convention applicable in all member states but also serves as a national intellectual property law in Cameroon and each of the other member states, contains provisions on copyright in Annex VII: Chapter IV (Limitations to Economic Rights). Although the Agreement establishes a set of copyright exceptions, these do not adhere to the fair use or fair dealing models.

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

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

Cameroon lacks a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are 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 ratified by 17 French-speaking States, including Cameroon since 2002.

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

The incumbent telecom provider, CAMTEL, is a fully state-owned enterprise.

It is reported that Cameroon does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there has been an obligation of accounting separation since 2015.

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