IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/afrdev/v36y2024i2p350-361.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does foreign direct investment promote access to basic services? The case of drinking water in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Armand Totouom
  • Joseph P. Ngameni
  • Rosine F. Poumeni

Abstract

Addressing the challenge of limited access to drinking water requires a comprehensive understanding of its underlying causes. This study aims to evaluate the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on access to basic services in Africa, focusing specifically on people's access to drinking water. Utilizing data from a panel of 51 countries spanning the period 2000–2020, we employed a two‐step system generalized method of moments to estimate dynamic econometric models. Our analysis reveals a positive correlation between FDI inflows and improved access to drinking water. A one‐percentage point increase in FDI inflows leads to a 0.026 percentage point rise in the proportion of people with access to drinking water. Notably, the effects vary between urban and rural areas, with marginal effects of 0.022 and 0.160, respectively. Furthermore, our findings indicate an inverse U‐shaped relationship between FDI and access to drinking water in Africa, signifying that while access to drinking water improves with increasing FDI, the rate of improvement diminishes. The study recommends the judicious utilization of tax revenues from multinational enterprises to fund basic service infrastructures and advocates for measures aimed at attracting additional FDIs.

Suggested Citation

  • Armand Totouom & Joseph P. Ngameni & Rosine F. Poumeni, 2024. "Does foreign direct investment promote access to basic services? The case of drinking water in Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 36(2), pages 350-361, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:afrdev:v:36:y:2024:i:2:p:350-361
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8268.12743
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.12743
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-8268.12743?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guanghua Wan & Ming Lu & Zhao Chen, 2007. "Globalization And Regional Income Inequality: Empirical Evidence From Within China," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 53(1), pages 35-59, March.
    2. Borensztein, E. & De Gregorio, J. & Lee, J-W., 1998. "How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth?1," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 115-135, June.
    3. Robert Lipsey & Fredrik Sjöholm, 2004. "FDI and wage spillovers in Indonesian manufacturing," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 140(2), pages 321-332, June.
    4. Ndikumana, Léonce & Pickbourn, Lynda, 2017. "The Impact of Foreign Aid Allocation on Access to Social Services in sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Water and Sanitation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 104-114.
    5. Robert Gillanders, 2014. "Corruption and Infrastructure at the Country and Regional Level," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(6), pages 803-819, June.
    6. Abdramane Camara, 2023. "The Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Tax Revenue," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 65(1), pages 168-190, March.
    7. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    8. Christopher Malikane & Prosper Chitambara, 2017. "Foreign Direct Investment, Democracy and Economic Growth in Southern Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 29(1), pages 92-102, March.
    9. Jorge Bermejo Carbonell & Richard A. Werner, 2018. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Generate Economic Growth? A New Empirical Approach Applied to Spain," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 94(4), pages 425-456, August.
    10. Hervé Kaffo Fotio & Stéphane Mbiankeu Nguea, 2022. "Access to water and sanitation in Africa: Does globalization matter?," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 170, pages 79-91.
    11. Sosson Tadadjeu & Henri Njangang & Paul Ningaye & Mohammadou Nourou, 2022. "Oil dependence and access to water and sanitation in African countries: Does the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative matter?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 34(1), pages 54-67, March.
    12. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    13. Syeda Tamkeen Fatima & Abdul Qayyum Khan, 2018. "Foreign direct investment and its impact on real wages: evidence from Turkish micro-level data," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 732-749, November.
    14. Mbiankeu Nguea, Stéphane & KAGUENDO, Ulrich Vianney Elisée, 2022. "Are growth effects of foreign capital significant for increasing access to electricity in Africa?," MPRA Paper 111604, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Nita Rudra & Meir Alkon & Siddharth Joshi, 2018. "FDI, Poverty, and the Politics of Potable Water Access," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 366-393, November.
    16. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Njangang, Henri & Nawo, Larissa, 2018. "Relevance of governance quality on the effect of foreign direct investment on economic growth: new evidence from African countries," MPRA Paper 90136, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Benzaim, Samia & Ftiti, Zied & Khedhaouria, Anis & Djermane, Rebai, 2023. "US foreign investments: Technology transfer, relative backwardness, and the productivity growth of host countries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 275-295.
    3. Tsun Se Cheong & Yanrui Wu, 2013. "Globalization and Regional Inequality," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 13-10, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    4. Brice Kamguia & Ronald Djeunankan & Sosson Tadadjeu & Henri Njangang, 2024. "Does macroeconomic instability hamper access to electricity? Evidence from developing countries," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(2), pages 387-414, April.
    5. Sosson Tadadjeu & Brice Kamguia & Ronald Djeunankan, 2023. "Access to drinking water and sanitation in developing countries: Does financial development matter?," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 457-481, July.
    6. Musa Oduola & Mustapha O. Bello & Rahmon Popoola, 2022. "Foreign Direct Investment, Institution and Industrialisation in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 577-606, May.
    7. Grace Nkansa Asante & Kofi Kamasa & Myles Patrick Bartlett, 2022. "Foreign direct investment and economic growth nexus in ECOWAS: The leveraging effect of anti-corruption," Economic Journal of Emerging Markets, Universitas Islam Indonesia, vol. 14(2), pages 176-188.
    8. Stéphane Mbiankeu Nguea & Armand Gilbert Noula & Issidor Noumba, 2024. "Financial Globalization and Democracy: Implications for Economic Growth in African Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 3355-3379, March.
    9. Moheddine Younsi & Marwa Bechtini & Hasna Khemili, 2021. "The effects of foreign aid, foreign direct investment and domestic investment on economic growth in African countries: Nonlinearities and complementarities," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 55-66, March.
    10. Noumba, Issidor & Nguea, Stéphane Mbiankeu, 2023. "Assessing the role of globalization for universal electricity access," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 180-195.
    11. Jing Li & Tsun Se Cheong & Jianfa Shen & Dahai Fu, 2019. "Urbanization And Rural–Urban Consumption Disparity: Evidence From China," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 64(04), pages 983-996, September.
    12. Samargandi, Nahla & Fidrmuc, Jan & Ghosh, Sugata, 2015. "Is the Relationship Between Financial Development and Economic Growth Monotonic? Evidence from a Sample of Middle-Income Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 66-81.
    13. Diego E. Vacaflores, 2011. "Was Latin America Correct In Relying In Foreign Direct Investment To Improve Employment Rates?," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 11(2).
    14. Waldkirch, Andreas & Ofosu, Andra, 2010. "Foreign Presence, Spillovers, and Productivity: Evidence from Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1114-1126, August.
    15. Jaanika Merikull & Tairi Room, "undated". "Are foreign-owned firms different ? Comparision of employment volatility and elasticity of labour demand," Bank of Estonia Working Papers wp2014-1, Bank of Estonia.
    16. Nabamita Dutta & Deepraj Mukherjee, 2018. "Can financial development enhance transparency?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 279-302, November.
    17. Maria Adelaide Duarte & Marta Simões, 2004. "Human capital, mechanisms of technological diffusion and the role of technological shocks in the speed of diffusion. Evidence from a panel of Mediterranean countries," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 20, pages 102-134, December.
    18. Martin Bijsterbosch & Marcin Kolasa, 2010. "FDI and productivity convergence in Central and Eastern Europe: an industry-level investigation," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(4), pages 689-712, January.
    19. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2023. "Foreign Direct Investment, Information Technology, And Total Factor Productivity Dynamics In Sub‐Saharan Africa," World Affairs, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 186(2), pages 469-506, June.
    20. Moteng, Ghislain & Raghutla, Chandrashekar & Njangang, Henri & Nembot, Luc Ndeffo, 2023. "International sanctions and energy poverty in target developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:afrdev:v:36:y:2024:i:2:p:350-361. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/afdbgci.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.