Cabo Verde has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

Law 133-V-2001 provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Cabo Verde and it is enforced by the National Commission of Data Protection (CNPD), which became operational in 2015.

Art. 19 of Law No. 133/V/2001 provides that transfer of personal data outside of Cabo Verde is only permissible if the foreign country ensures an adequate level of protection. However, according to Art. 20, the transfer of personal data to a country which does not ensure an adequate level of protection may be permitted by Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados Pessoais (CNPD, National Commission of Data Protection) if the data subject has given consent to the transfer or under limited exemptions provided for by the law.

The Multisector Regulatory Agency for the Economy (ARME), which is the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process. Art. 1 of ARME Statutes states that the authority has administrative, financial and patrimonial autonomy. The Statutes were approved by Decree-Law No. 50/2018.

The government directly owns 3.4% of shares in Cabo Verde Telecom. The government also indirectly owns shares in Cabo Verde Telecom (78.6%), through the following public companies: National Institute of Social Security (INPS) (57.9%), Airports and Aviation Security (ASA) (20%) and Cape Verde Post Office (CCV) (0.7%).

Cabo Verde does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation since 2005. According to Art. 39 of Legislative Decree No. 7/2005 of 28 November, operators who provide publicly available electronic communications networks or services and enjoy special or exclusive rights for the provision of services in other sectors must:
- Have a separate accounting system for the activities of providing electronic communications networks or services, which must be subject to an independent audit to be carried out by an entity to be appointed by the Autoridade reguladora nacional (ARN, National Regulatory Authority) or accepted by it; and
- Create legally separate entities for the corresponding activities, in order to identify, on the basis of the respective calculations and the allocation methods used, all the elements of expenditure and revenue linked to these activities, including a detailed breakdown of fixed assets and structural costs.

Cabo Verde has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

Cabo Verde lacks a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. Art. 271 of Legislative Decree No. 4/2007 of 20 August 2007, approving the Intellectual Property Code (Decreto-Legislativo Nº 4/2007, de 20 de agosto, que aprova o Código da Propriedade Intelectual) states that it is an administrative offence to disclose, acquire or use a competitor's business secrets without his consent, provided that the information:
- is secret, in the sense that it is not generally known or easily accessible, in its entirety or in the exact configuration and connection of its constituent elements, to persons in the circles that normally deal with the type of information in question;
- has commercial value by virtue of its secrecy;
- has been the subject of considerable efforts, appropriate to the circumstances, by the person lawfully in control of the information to keep it secret.

There is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Cabo Verde to deliver telecom services to end users, and it is not practiced in the mobile sector and in the fixed sector based on commercial agreements.

Cabo Verde has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

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

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

Cabo Verde has a copyright regime under Decree-Law No. 1/2009. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Art. 62 lists the exceptions, which include for the purposes of research or private study by the person using the work; use in a private event that is not for profit, and for which entry is not charged; for review or news reporting; reproduction by photographic or similar processes, when carried out for didactic purposes by public or private libraries or centres; in documentation files of general interest or public institutions with a scientific or technological vocation; or by educational establishments; reproduction of works, permanently exposed to the public through images or reports for educational use; reproduction of an arrangement or translation exclusively for individual and private use; quotations from copyright works and critics; speeches and lectures before the media; performance of hymns, as well as works of a religious character; private reproduction of an arrangement or translation exclusively for an individual; among others.

It is reported that an approval process serves as a screening mechanism for inbound foreign investment. The process begins with submission of a formal expression of interest to investment promotion agency Cabo Verde TradeInvest in accordance with the Investment Law. Relevant government entities (depending on the sector and of the nature of the investment) then conduct an integrated review of the investment project and provide an opinion. If the opinion is favorable, Cabo Verde TradeInvest, in coordination with relevant agencies, approves the project and issues an investor certificate no later than 45 days from the submission of interest.

Art. 226 of the Legislative Decree approving the Intellectual Property Code provides that the applicant must appoint a representative in Cabo Verde in the case of patent applications filed by interested parties (natural or legal persons) who are not domiciled or established in Cabo Verde. However, the interested party or the holder of the right, whether natural or legal, domiciled or resident in Cabo Verde, is free to present his applications for industrial property titles in person or to have them presented by a recognised lawyer (Art. 225(1)).