Why Does Foreign Direct Investment Go Where It Goes?: New Evidence From African Countries

Abstract

The central concern of this paper is to respond to the question: why do FDI inflows go where they do in African countries? An understanding of such factors will assist African policymakers to formulate and execute policies for attracting FDI. Our estimation results from cross-country regressions for the period 1996-2008 indicate that: (i) there is a positive relationship between market size and FDI inflows; (ii) openness to trade has a positive impact on FDI flows; (iii) higher financial development has negative effect on FDI inflows; (iv) the prevalence of the rule of law increases FDI inflows; (v) higher FDI goes where foreign aid also goes; (vi) agglomeration has a strong positive impact on FDI inflows; (vi) natural resource endowment and exploitation (such as oil) attracts huge FDI; (vii) East and Southern African sub-regions appear positively disposed to obtain higher levels of inward FDI. The key policy implications are discussed.