State-owned enterprises operating in the telecommunications sector in Botswana are Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Ltd (BTCL), a provider of telecommunications and Internet services (ISP), and Botswana Fibre Networks (BoFiNet), a wholesale provider of telecommunications infrastructure responsible for enhancing broadband penetration. The Government of Botswana reportedly owns 51% of the shares of BTCL and 100% of the shares of BoFiNet.

It is reported that Botswana does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there has been an obligation to separate the accounts since 2012.

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

It is reported that the Botswana Communication Regulatory Authority (BOCRA), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

According to Sections 189 and 190 of the Companies Act 2007, a company limited by shares must keep accounting records, including invoices relating to the sale and supply of goods, at its registered office or such other place in Botswana as the company's board shall determine.

Section 74 of Botswana’s Data Protection Act provides that personal data may be transferred to foreign jurisdictions, provided that a copy is retained within Botswana for the entire duration of its processing. This obligation applies irrespective of the legal basis for the transfer, including adequacy decisions, appropriate safeguards, or specific derogations. The requirement to maintain a local copy is absolute and admits no exceptions.
The 2024 Act repealed the Data Protection Act 2018, which did not contain this obligation.

Sections 74–78 of the Data Protection Act 2024 allow for the transfer of personal data outside Botswana only when a copy is kept in the country and when certain conditions are fulfilled. These conditions include an adequacy decision issued by the Commission regarding the recipient country or organisation, or the implementation of appropriate safeguards. Such safeguards may take the form of legally binding agreements between public authorities, binding corporate rules, standard data protection clauses adopted by the Commission, or approved codes of conduct.
The 2024 Act repealed the Data Protection Act 2018, which, under Sections 48 and 49, generally prohibited cross-border data transfers, except where adequacy decisions or certain derogations applied.

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

Act No. 18 of 2024 establishes a comprehensive data protection framework in Botswana, repealing and re-enacting the Data Protection Act of 2018 with substantial amendments. While the 2018 Act regulated data controllers and processors, emphasised consent, and introduced data subject rights alongside restrictions on direct marketing, sensitive data, and cross-border transfers, the 2024 Act expands its scope to include both automated and non-automated processing. It introduces specific provisions for handling sensitive personal data and imposes additional conditions for lawful processing, such as data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, and accountability. In addtion, it mandates Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), the appointment of Data Protection Officers (DPOs), and stricter penalties for non-compliance. Although the Act broadly aligns with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it diverges by introducing custodial sentences of three to twelve years for particular offences.

Clause 15.5 of the Service and Application License terms and conditions states that all accounts and records of the licensee providing electronic communication services under the Communications Regulatory Authority Act (No. 19 of 2012) must be kept in secure locations and formats to ensure their preservation. Performance-related data must be retained for at least one year, and all financial records must be retained for at least five years.

Section 69 of Botswana’s Data Protection Act provides that a data controller or data processor is required to appoint a data protection officer (DPO) in circumstances where the processing of personal data is carried out by a public authority or body, excluding courts acting in their judicial capacity; where the core activities of the controller or processor involve processing operations which, by their nature, scope and purpose, necessitate regular and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a large scale; or where such core activities consist of large-scale processing of sensitive personal data or personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences.
In addition, Section 65 of the Act stipulates that where a type of processing employs new technologies and, considering its nature, scope, context and purpose, is likely to pose a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, the data controller must conduct a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) prior to initiating such processing. A DPIA is specifically required in cases involving systematic and extensive evaluation of personal characteristics based on automated processing, including profiling, where such processing results in decisions that produce legal effects or significantly affect the individual; where sensitive personal data or data relating to criminal convictions and offences is processed on a large scale; or where large-scale systematic monitoring of publicly accessible areas is undertaken

Pursuant to Section 14.d of the 2024 Data Protection Act, the Commission is vested with the authority to obtain from data controllers and data processors access to all personal data, as well as any information deemed necessary for the fulfilment of its statutory functions. Such access does not require the issuance of a court order. The 2024 Act repealed the 2018 Data Protection Act, which contained a comparable provision under Section 10.

Section 76 of the Public Procurement Act stipulates that, except as otherwise provided under this Act, all works, services, and supplies procurement should be reserved for a citizen or national contractor. In particular, certain procurement activities are reserved for local producers or suppliers. These include:
- Procurement activity offered only by a fully national-owned MSME;
- Goods manufactured locally by a fully national contractor;
- Services provided by a citizen or a fully national contractor;
- A procurement activity intended to promote innovation, local technology, and the commercialisation of the procurement activity; and
- The creation of jobs, capacity-building, and skills transfer.
Further details about reservation schemes can be found in Regulation 88 of the Public Procurement Regulations.
The Public Procurement Act repealed the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, which contained a different reservation scheme. Section 71 of the repealed Act provided that reservation schemes applied to procurement of the following nature: low complexity; limited scale; repetitive in nature; having a financial ceiling; open only to citizen contractors; and based only on competition among the eligible contractors in the classification in question.

Botswana has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

In accordance with Art. 53 of the Public Procurement Act, domestic bidding should be employed, unless otherwise prescribed. Further details regarding selection and procurement methods can be found in Part IV of the Public Procurement Regulations. Open domestic bidding is defined as a procurement method open to participation on equal terms by all service providers domiciled in Botswana.