1. Second Congress of African Economists CESS Instittute Quebec, Canada
DOES FDI REDUCE POVERTY IN AFRICA AND ARE THERE REGIONAL DIFFERENCES? By G. Gohou and I. Soumare
Second Congress of African Economists
Abidjan. Côte d’Ivoire
November 24-26, 2011
By Gaston GOHOU, PhD
CESS Instittute Quebec, Canada

2. Outline 1. Motivation 2. Research questions
3. Empirical analysis and results
4. Conclusion

3. Apparent linkage between FDI and welfare …
1. Motivation
Africa: huge development gap  FDI
FDI  Reduce poverty
Apparent linkage between FDI and welfare …

4. Research questions
Relationship between net FDI inflows and poverty reduction in Africa and the impact of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs)
Specific research questions:
Does FDI contribute to poverty reduction in Africa?
Are there any regional differences on the role of FDI on poverty reduction in Africa?
Are there any differences between Africa and other World regions on the role of FDI on poverty reduction?

5. Regression model specification
Empirical analysis & results
Regression model specification
Eq 1:
Eq 2:
Welfare is measured by HDI (alternatively real per capital GDP),
FDI is measured by per capita FDI (also use FDI/GDP or FDI/GCF),
Control variables:
Economic and policy variables,
Business environment and institutional quality variables,
Political risks variables.

6. RECs in Africa
Africa map and regions

7. Q1: Does FDI contribute to poverty reduction?
Strong positive relationship between FDI and welfare at the aggregate Africa level,
Even after introducing economic & policy, business environment & institutional quality, & political risks control variables

8. Q2: Are there any regional differences in Africa on the role of FDI on poverty reduction?
At the regional level, the impact of FDI on welfare is no longer obvious and differs across regions.
Central and East Africa RECs: FDI impacts positively and significantly welfare
South and North Africa RECs: impact of FDI on welfare is non significant
West Africa RECs: impact of FDI on welfare is ambiguous.

9. Q3: Are there any differences between Africa and 3 out-of-Africa regions on the role of FDI on poverty reduction?
Comparison of Africa and ASEAN, Latin America and Europe transitional economies, shows that, unlike Africa, FDI does not have a positive significant impact on welfare in these 3 out-of-Africa RECs.

10. Conclusion 2 policy recommendations:
FDI can contribute to countries development and poverty reduction in Africa,
2 policy recommendations:
Policies to attract FDI should be tailored on a regional basis and account for economic convergence within regions and differences between regions in order to be effective
FDI should be labor-intensive and targets pro- poor sectors (agriculture, infrastructure,…)