For better or worse, extraction of Africa's natural resources is driving the spread of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows across the continent. In part, this reflects the increasingly prominent role of international capital, and the relatively stable socio-economic and political environment obtaining across much of Sub-Saharan Africa. Altogether, FDI is playing an increasingly prominent role in the design of economic development strategies in the hope that it will help alleviate poverty. Despite this, there are a number of gaps in our knowledge about the effects of foreign direct investment on the domestic economies. What, for instance, are the channels through which FDI is impacting on the national economies of Sub-Saharan Africa? How are investing companies relating with national legislation governing extractive industries of Sub-Saharan Africa or investment in general, and how does the presence of FDI influence labour markets?
This report, seeks to explore some of these issues, drawing on the findings of an extensive firm level survey in seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, complemented with follow-up, in-depth interviews. Overall, the results obtained provide the justification that even if FDI in extractive industries is important for economies of SSA, it needs more checks and balances.