Foreign Direct Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Land-Energy Nexus

Journal title QA Rivista dell’Associazione Rossi-Doria
Author/s Giorgia Giovannetti, Elisa Ticci
Publishing Year 2013 Issue 2013/2
Language Italian Pages 30 P. 57-86 File size 497 KB
DOI 10.3280/QU2013-002003
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This paper explores recent patterns of foreign direct investments (FDI) in land in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with the focus on investment in biofuel crops. It describes the drivers and features of this type of investment compared to general FDI trends in developing countries and SSA. The continent is one of the areas most targeted by international land acquisitions, especially for biofuel projects, but Africa’s increasing attractiveness in this sector is not without risks. Our Zero Inflated Poisson estimates for the number of large-scale international land deals in biofuels in Sub-Saharan countries identify land availability and abundance of water resources combined with weak land governance as significant drivers. These findings indirectly suggest that biofuel-oriented FDI in land on the sub-continent are driven by resource-seeking decisions. EconLit Classification: O130, F210, N570, Q240

Keywords: FDI, Land grabbing, Biofuels, Africa

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  • Effectiveness of EU biofuels sustainability criteria in the context of land acquisitions in Africa Stefania Bracco, in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews /2015 pp.130
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.05.006

Giorgia Giovannetti, Elisa Ticci, Foreign direct investment in Sub-Saharan Africa: the land-energy nexus in "QA Rivista dell’Associazione Rossi-Doria" 2/2013, pp 57-86, DOI: 10.3280/QU2013-002003