Other sources of FDIs in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Gulf Cooperation Council states

Abstract

Academic research on Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) from emerging economies (EE) in Africa, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), has focused primarily on Chinese investments at the exclusion of investment activities from other emerging economies such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. This leaves unanswered questions of whether investment activities in SSA from other emerging economies such as the GCC states have the same or similar drivers as China's. To answer this question and close the research gap, this paper uses the traditional institutional theory as well as the institutional open access theory, the institutional fragility theory, and the OLI (Ownership, Location, and Internationalization) model to examine GCC states' investments in Sub-Saharan Africa, and compares them with Chinese FDIs in the region. The results of the analyses reveal interesting similarities and differences in the approaches taken by the GCC states and China.