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From UNCTAD 

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
IN AFRICA:

Performance and Potential

Geneva, June 1999

"We are determined to help Africa
to develop and to play its full part
in the global economy."

Kofi Annan
Secretary-General of the United Nations
New York, June 1999

  Foreign direct investment (FDI) is welcomed and, indeed, actively sought by virtually all African countries. The contribution that FDI can make to their economic development and integration into the world economy is widely recognized. For this reason, African countries have made considerable efforts over the past decade to improve their investment climate. They have liberalized their investment regulations and have offered incentives to foreign investors. More importantly, the economic performance of the region had substantially improved from the mid-1990s.

  However, the expected surge of FDI into Africa as a whole has not occurred. Too often, potential investors discount the African continent as a location for investment because a negative image of the region as a whole conceals the complex diversity of economic performance and the existence of investment opportunities in individual countries.

  While the problems many African countries face are widely known and dominate the perceptions of the continent as a whole, there are a number of positive aspects that, although highly relevant for foreign investors, are little known. Most African countries have substantially improved their FDI framework, and a number of them have already attracted significant amounts of FDI, in absolute or relative terms, or both, from an increasing number of home countries, including developing countries. In addition, FDI in Africa is no longer concentrated in the traditional natural resources sector, but also manufacturing and services industries have received considerable amounts of FDI in recent years. It has proven to be highly profitable and fairly consistently so over time. Direct investors need therefore to differentiate. They need to look at Africa country by country, sector by sector, and opportunity by opportunity. As in other continents, there are profitable investment opportunities to be found.

Focus on the new Africa
A joint initiative by:
  • United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
  • Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
  • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
  • International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
Contents of UNCTAD's booklet:
Foreword by Kofi Annan
Secretary-General of the United Nations
HTML or PDF
Preface by Rubens Ricupero
Secretary-General of UNCTAD
HTML or PDF
Acknowledgements and executive summary HTML or PDF
Although it is true that the overall economic performance of Africa was unfavourable for a long time .... HTML or PDF
... and Africa did not benefit from the FDI boom that began in the mid-1980s, ... HTML or PDF
... there are a number of positive but little-known facts about Africa, such as the considerable improvement by African countries of their FDI policy frameworks, ... HTML or PDF
... investment opportunities discovered by firms in new home countries, ... HTML or PDF
... significant investment in the services and manufacturing sectors ... HTML or PDF
... and in particular the high profitability of FDI in Africa. HTML or PDF
Given this, it should not be surprising that a more differentiated analysis reveals a number of countries that have been successful in attracting FDI ... HTML or PDF
... and shows that Africa -- as any other continent -- offers attractive investment opportunities .... HTML or PDF
... which can be enhanced by host countries, ... HTML or PDF
... and supported by home countries and international initiatives. HTML or PDF
Notes and references HTML or PDF
Annex tables HTML or PDF
UNCTAD's contribution to African development HTML or PDF
Selected UNCTAD publications on transnational corporations and foreign direct investment HTML or PDF

Book Information:
Symbol: UNCTAD/ITE/IIT/Misc.15
77 pages
To obtain a printed version of the booklet
please contact Medarde Almario: e-mail Medarde.Almario@unctad.org, tel. +4122 907 5699,
Fax +04122 907 0194
Full booklet FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN AFRICA: Performance and Potential (UNCTAD/ITE/IIT/Misc.15, June 1999, 77 pages, 1.2Mb) is also available in PDF format.
More general information about
United Nations Publications is available at http://www.un.org/Pubs/sales.htm

For more information on UNCTAD's work about Foreign Direct Investment in Africa please contact Ludger Odenthal, e-mail: mailto:ludger.odenthal@unctad.org
Tel. +4122-907 6325, Fax +04122-907 0914.

Copyright © United Nations, 1999 . All rights reserved.


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