CONTRIBUTION OF NATIONAL IMAGE, BUSINESS CLIMATE, AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO FDI AMONG SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA NATIONS

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish the contribution of National Image, Business Climate, and Technology Transfer to FDI among Sub-Saharan Africa nations.

Methodology: This study was based on positivism approach and study used a descriptive cross-sectional design. The population of the study was all of SSA 46 countries and a census survey of all the countries in SSA was done hence no sampling was done. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study. A structured research questionnaire was used in collecting primary data. The questionnaire was administered to the Heads of Foreign Missions of each of the 46 SSA countries in Kenya. Secondary data was used for data on FDI obtained from the UNCTAD publications. Data was then analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Testing of hypothesis was done through Adjusted R² F-ratio test (Analysis of Variance) and regression of the coefficient.

Results: The study established the synergistic contributions of national image, business climate and technology transfer to FDI among Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Adjusted R square shows that the overall model explained 88.5% of changes in FDI. The overall model was also statistically significant (F= 95.709, p-value< .05). The influence of individual variables was statistically significant for business climate (B= 1.240, p-value< .05) and technology transfer (B= .540, p-value< .05) and not statistically significant for national image (B= .282, p-value> .05).

Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The findings of this study support the need for Sub-Saharan Africa countries to create a national image individually as countries and as a block as this will go a long way in attracting FDI which will eventually translate to economic development. It is therefore prudent for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to understand the national image dimensions in the regional context in order to carry out frequent analysis and develop strategic approaches relevant to their FDI competitiveness.