Somalia currently lacks an effective institutional framework for the protection and enforcement of copyright. Although the then Somali Democratic Republic adopted a Copyright Law (Law No. 66 of 7 September 1977), this statute makes copyright protection conditional on registration, and there is neither a functioning copyright registration office nor a competent enforcement authority. As a result, copyright protection in practice – including online enforcement – remains highly uncertain and difficult to secure.

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

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

Somalia has no rules applicable to the protection of trade secrets.

It is reported that there is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Somalia to deliver telecom services to end users. However, it is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements. In addition, some telecom companies and internet providers, such as Somtel, Telesom, and Somcable, agreed with the government to share the landing and operation of submarine cables to enter the country.

Somalia does not mandate accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, it is reported that operators are subject to an obligation of functional separation.

It is reported that there is a legal limit on the number of licenses, a minimum capital requirement to obtain a license and other licensing criteria. However, these restrictions are not found in the law. The licensing regime is regulated by the National Telecommunications Law of 2017 and the Unified Licensing Framework.

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

The Foreign Investment Law of 2015 of the Republic of Somalia does not impose restrictions on foreign equity ownership.

Art. 19 (f) of Law No. 001/2021 stipulates that to register a foreign company branch in Somalia, the names and passports of the director or directors of the foreign company based in Somalia must accompany the company registration application documents. This suggests that, in order to register a foreign company in Somalia, some directors should be based in Somalia.

Somalia is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II). Somalia is not a member of the WTO but holds observer status.

Art. 34 of the Public Procurement, Concessions and Disposal Act establishes a margin of domestic preference. A Procuring Entity may grant a margin of domestic preference in the evaluation of bids under open competitive bidding to (a) Bids offering goods that are manufactured, mined, extracted, or grown in the Federal Republic of Somalia when compared to bids offering goods manufactured, mined, extracted or grown in a foreign country; and (b) Bids by domestic contractors when compared to bids offered by foreign contractors. The margin of domestic preference shall be 15% for goods and 10% for contractors, which shall be stated in the bidding documents.
When there is an interest in the development of a target group of providers, a community, or a sub-sector of the economy, the Procuring Entity may decide to limit participation by applying a preference scheme in its procurement proceedings.

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