The Promise and Peril of FDI in Sub-Saharan Africa

This book explores the developmental prospects, risks, and implications of foreign direct investment (FDI) in sub-Saharan African (SSA). Despite the region’s significant potential, it continues to face complex challenges and significant capital shortages. In theory, FDI could promote development by supplementing domestic savings, enhancing financial systems, and promoting global integration, but it can also weaken the balance of payments and undermine domestic investment. In addition, SSA’s weak institutions and poor governance means that FDI may also contribute to dysfunctional capitalism and tax evasion. This book argues that colonial legacies and flawed policy choices have entrenched institutional weaknesses and socio-economic outcomes that deter diversified FDI and attract extractive FDI, leading to underdevelopment and resource dependency while undermining industrialization and diversification. This book will be relevant to students, researchers, and policymakers interested in development economics and the political economy of SSA. Sean J. Gossel is Professor at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business where he teaches, supervisors, and researches topics in the areas of financial economics and financial globalisation with a particular focus on economic development in sub-Saharan Africa.