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The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in sub-Saharan Africa: What Role for Governance?

Author

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  • Andres Rodrigues-Pose
  • Gilles Cols

Abstract

For the past quarter of a century, foreign direct investment (FDI) flows have grown exponentially across the world. Sub-Saharan Africa has, however, lagged behind and only lured on average a mere 2% of global FDI. The investment that the region attracts tends, moreover, to be concentrated in a number of commodity-rich countries. Natural resources and the size of national markets have generally been considered as the main drivers of FDI. The quality of local institutions has, by contrast, attracted less attention. This paper uses institutional data for 22 countries in order to demonstrate that the quality of governance plays a far from negligible and enduring role in the distribution of FDI in sub-Saharan Africa. It is shown that factors such as political stability, government effectiveness, lower corruption, voice and accountability, and the rule of law not only are more important determinants of FDI than the size of local markets, but also that their influence on the capacity of African countries to attract FDI is long-lasting.

Suggested Citation

  • Andres Rodrigues-Pose & Gilles Cols, 2017. "The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in sub-Saharan Africa: What Role for Governance?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1720, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2017.
    • Handle: RePEc:egu:wpaper:1720
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    Cited by:

    1. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Governance, capital flight and industrialisation in Africa," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 8(1), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Awadhi, Mohamed & James, Moshi & Byaro, Mwoya, . "Does Institutional Development attract Foreign Direct Investments in Sub-Saharan Africa? A Dynamic Panel Analysis," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 10(01).
    3. Federico Carril-Caccia & Juliette Milgram Baleix & Jordi Paniagua, 2019. "The foreign direct investment-institution nexus in oil-abundant countries," Working Papers 1903, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    4. Susanne A. Frick & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2023. "What draws investment to special economic zones? Lessons from developing countries," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(11), pages 2136-2147, November.
    5. Benfratello, Luigi & D’Ambrosio, Anna & Sangrigoli, Alida, 2023. "Foreign Direct Investments in Africa: Are Chinese investors different?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    6. Tarek Bel Hadj & Adel Ghodbane, 2022. "A Moderated Mediation Model of the Effect of Foreign Direct Investments on CO2 Emissions: Panel Data Evidence from GCC Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(2), pages 904-925, June.
    7. Andrew G Ross & Maktoba Omar & Anqi Xu & Samikshya Pandey, 2019. "The impact of institutional quality on Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 34(6), pages 572-588, September.
    8. Evangelos Rasvanis & Vassilis Tselios, 2021. "Do agglomeration economies matter where natural endowments are? Lessons from Greece," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 1009-1024, June.
    9. Kimiagari, Salman & Mahbobi, Mohammad & Toolsee, Tushika, 2023. "Attracting and retaining FDI: Africa gas and oil sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    10. Federico Carril-Caccia & Juliette Milgram-Baleix & Jordi Paniagua, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment in oil-abundant countries: The role of institutions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-23, April.
    11. Dondashe, Nandipha & Phiri, Andrew, 2018. "Determinants of FDI in South Africa: Do macroeconomic variables matter?," MPRA Paper 83636, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Michael Kofi Hanson (M.Phil), 2024. "Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Economic Growth: The Role of Natural Resources and Trade Openness in Ghana," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(3), pages 1347-1361, March.
    13. Mohammad Razib Hossain, 2021. "Inward foreign direct investment in Bangladesh: Do we need to rethink about some of the macro-level quantitative determinants?," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 1-23, March.
    14. Rios, Vicente & Gianmoena, Lisa, 2020. "The link between quality of government and regional resilience in Europe," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 1064-1084.
    15. Sodiq Arogundade & Mduduzi Biyase & Joel H. Eita, 2021. "Foreign Direct Investment and Inclusive Human Development in Sub-Saharan African Countries: Domestic Conditions Matter," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 74(4), pages 463-498.
    16. Waliu Olawale Shittu & Hammed Oluwaseyi Musibau & Sodiq Olaiwola Jimoh, 2022. "The complementary roles of human capital and institutional quality on natural resource - FDI—economic growth Nexus in the MENA region," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 7936-7957, June.
    17. Abdullah Abdulmohsen Alfalih, 2025. "Human Capabilities and Governance Mechanisms as Catalysts for Green Energy Supply: Insights from Natural Resource–Rich Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(1), pages 5453-5478, March.
    18. Munjal, Surender & Varma, Sumati & Bhatnagar, Ankur, 2022. "A comparative analysis of Indian and Chinese FDI into Africa: The role of governance and alliances," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1018-1033.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • N57 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Africa; Oceania
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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