It is reported that the authorities regularly block access to social media platforms and shutter internet cafés.

Eritrea is reported to lack transparency in the area of copyright, in particular there are reported difficulties in knowing the scope of IP protection, and there is a lack of data on enforcement and prosecutions on the ground.

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

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

The country does not have a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. The Penal Code of the State of Eritrea discusses “Fraudulent Unfair Competition” in its Art. 359, penalizing the acts of misappropriating others' “secret of manufacture, organization or process” and misusing it in a “manner contrary to good faith”, with imprisonment between one and three years.

It is reported that there is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Eritrea 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.

Art. 5 of the Investment Proclamation No. 59/1994 states that all sectors are open to any investors, with the exception of domestic retail, domestic wholesale, import, and commission agency companies, which are excluded unless there is a bilateral agreement of reciprocity. Yet, it is reported that in practice, this law has been suspended and the ruling Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) determines the sectors in which private investment is accepted and defines the terms under which it is permitted. As a result, investment is de facto prohibited in most sectors of the economy (with the exception of mining), including the telecom sector. It has also been reported that the majority of large enterprises are either wholly or partially owned by the government or the PFDJ.

Arts. 2-4 of the Proclamation No. 134 of 2003 establish the Eritrea Telecommunication Services Corporation (Eritel), which is a state-owned company and remains the only telecom in the country. The Proclamation No. 172 of 2012 converted this entity into a share company making its shares available for investors, but there is no public information on the share of private ownership.

It is reported that Eritrea does not mandate functional or accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

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

Eritrea has a telecommunications authority: The Communication Department. However, it is reported that the decision making process of this entity is not fully independent from the government.

Eritrea has not joined any trade or regional agreements with binding commitments to cross-border data flows.

Section 7 of the Investment Proclamation No. 59/1994 addresses the issue of technology transfer agreements. The legislation stipulates that investors, investment projects, and organisations may employ expatriate experts in the absence of national experts, whether technical or managerial. However, they are obliged to train nationals and replace expatriates. Technology transfer agreements must be lodged and registered by the Investment Center and approved by a duly authorised government body. Furthermore, Section 17 stipulates that investors who seek certification in relation to the registration of technology transfer agreements or guarantees for investment and the resolution of disputes are required to complete application forms prepared by the Centre and present all necessary documents requested by the Centre. In issuing certification, the Centre shall ascertain, among other things, the type and amount of investment, the type of business organisation and the signing of a technology transfer agreement. It is reported that in practice the Investment Proclamation No. 59/1994 has been suspended, and that the ruling Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) determines the sectors and defines the terms under which private investment is accepted. There is no transparent government screening mechanism for approving inbound foreign investment in Eritrea. Additionally, it is asserted that the few foreign enterprises operating in Eritrea do so under non-public agreements negotiated directly between the companies or countries and a small group of officials from the government and the PFDJ.

Eritrea’s statistics on patent filing registration show that all its patent application were made abroad, both by residents and non-residents. The country is not a signatory of any of the international treaties on IP, and has no written mechanism to register patents in the country. There is a general lack of data and information on the IP environment in country and a lack of transparency.

There are complaints on the lack of transparency regarding the enforcement of patents, with difficulties of knowing the extent of protection, and with no data on enforcement and judicial actions.