Foreign Direct Investment in Africa : Policies Also Matter

Africa has not succeeded in attracting much foreign direct investment in the past few decades. When countries did attract multinational companies, it was principally because of their (abundant) natural resources and the size of their domestic market. Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and South Africa have traditionally been the main recipients of foreign direct investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. But the author shows that a few Sub-Saharan countries have generated interest among international investors by improving their business environment. In the 1990s, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, and Senegal attracted substantial foreign direct investment--more so than countries with bigger domestic markets (Cameroon, Republic of Congo, and Kenya) and greater natural resources (Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe). Mali and Mozambique, which improved their business climate spectacularly in the 1990s, did so with a few strategic actions: liberalizing trade, launching an attractive privatization program, modernizing mining and investment codes, adopting international agreements on foreign direct investment, developing a few priority projects that had multiplier effects on other investment projects, and mounting an image-building effort in which political figures such as the nation's president participated. These actions are similar to those associated with the success of other small countries with limited natural resources, such as Ireland and Singapore about 20 years ago.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Morisset, Jacques
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2000-11
Subjects:ADMINISTRATIVE BARRIERS, BANKING SECTOR, BENCHMARK, BUSINESS CLIMATE, BUSINESS COMMUNITY, BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, CAPITAL EXPENDITURES, COMPETITIVENESS, CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, CORRUPTION, CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSES, DIRECT INVESTMENT, ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ECONOMIC PROBLEMS, ECONOMIES OF SCALE, ELASTICITIES, ELASTICITY, EMPIRICAL STUDIES, EXPENDITURES, EXPORT PROCESSING ZONES, EXPORTS, FDI, FOREIGN COMPANIES, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, FOREIGN INVESTMENT, FOREIGN INVESTORS, FREE TRADE, GDP, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, GROWTH PERFORMANCE, GROWTH RATE, HOST COUNTRY, HOST ECONOMY, HUMAN CAPITAL, INCOME, INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES, INFLATION, INSURANCE, INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT, INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, INVESTMENT GUARANTEE AGENCY, LEGISLATION, MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS, MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, MACROECONOMIC STABILITY, MANUFACTURING SECTORS, MARKET SIZE, MULTIPLIER EFFECT, MULTIPLIER EFFECTS, NATURAL RESOURCES, OIL, OIL RESERVES, PARLIAMENT, POLICY INTERVENTION, POLITICAL STABILITY, PORTFOLIO, POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES, POTENTIAL INVESTORS, REGRESSION ANALYSIS, STATISTICAL DATA, TARIFF BARRIERS, TELEPHONE LINES, TRADE BARRIERS, TRADE LIBERALIZATION, TRANSPARENCY,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/11/717449/foreign-direct-investment-africa-policies-also-matter
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19748
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!