Governance and Private Investment in Africa

Abstract

The quality of governance directly affects the level and nature of private investment in a country. Private investment in turn is a major determinant of economic growth, and the ability of a country to reduce or alleviate poverty and improve the lives of its citizens. The relationship of governance to private investment is complex and is subject to many influences; this paper will examine a relatively narrow aspect of that relationship—complex administrative regulation of business as an enabler of corruption and poor governance—to draw implications on the relation between governance in Africa and the inability of most African countries to create a positive investment climate, attract significant flows of investment, and maintain consistently high growth rates.KeywordsAfrican CountryForeign InvestmentPrivate InvestmentCorruption Perception IndexBusiness RegulationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.