Foreign Direct Investments and Human Capital Development in Subsaharan Africa

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to estimate the impact of foreign direct investments on human capital development in 32 Subsaharan African countries over the period 1980 – 2005. Human capital is captured by the percentage of children in full-time education in primary and secondary schools. Panel data regressions are used for the estimations. The results show a correlation not only between FDI and the percentage of children in full-time education in primary school but also between the FDI and the percentage of children in full-time education in secondary school. These results are not significant for that. This shows that FDI directed towards Sub-Saharan Africa still remain insufficient. That is why a lot of effort should be made in order to favour the attraction of FDI in this part of the continent. The other variables which have a positive and significant impact on the percentage of children in full-time education are: the domestic investment rate, public sector expenditures, life expectancy at birth and the growth rate of the gross domestic product per capita.