<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This paper gives an overview of foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Africa from 1980 to 2017. It highlights trends in FDI inflows, reforms that have been implemented to date, and challenges that need to be addressed in order to increase the FDI inflows into the country. Government reforms on FDI have been two pronged. Firstly, there are policies that are aimed at creating a strong competitive industry and a strong industrial base for investment. Among such policies are trade liberalisation policies, multilateral and regional integration policies, supportive industrial policies, and bilateral trade agreements. Secondly, there are policies that directly target the FDI investment. These policies include, amongst others, investment incentives, regulatory reforms, exchange control relaxation, and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) reforms. The findings from this study show that FDI inflows have increased significantly from 1990 although they still remain depressed.</p></abstract>

This paper gives an overview of foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Africa from 1980 to 2017. It highlights trends in FDI inflows, reforms that have been implemented to date, and challenges that need to be addressed in order to increase the FDI inflows into the country. Government reforms on FDI have been two pronged. Firstly, there are policies that are aimed at creating a strong competitive industry and a strong industrial base for investment. Among such policies are trade liberalisation policies, multilateral and regional integration policies, supportive industrial policies, and bilateral trade agreements. Secondly, there are policies that directly target the FDI investment. These policies include, amongst others, investment incentives, regulatory reforms, exchange control relaxation, and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) reforms. The findings from this study show that FDI inflows have increased significantly from 1990 although they still remain depressed.

Foreign Direct Investment Dynamics in South Africa: Reforms, Trends and Challenges

Studia Universitatis „Vasile Goldis” Arad – Economics Series

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

This paper gives an overview of foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Africa from 1980 to 2017. It highlights trends in FDI inflows, reforms that have been...

Foreign Direct Investment Dynamics in South Africa: Reforms, Trends and Challenges

Published Online: Jun 06, 2019

Page range: 33 - 53

Received: Feb 01, 2019

Accepted: Apr 01, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sues-2019-0007

Keywords
South Africa, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), FDI Inflows, Poverty

© 2019 Mercy T. Musakwa et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Foreign Direct Investment Dynamics in South Africa: Reforms, Trends and Challenges

Published Online: Jun 06, 2019

Page range: 33 - 53

Received: Feb 01, 2019

Accepted: Apr 01, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sues-2019-0007

KeywordsSouth Africa, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), FDI Inflows, Poverty

© 2019 Mercy T. Musakwa et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
South Africa, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), FDI Inflows, Poverty