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Explaining Chinese FDI in Africa: A Longitudinal Configurational Approach Integrating Policy Influences to Traditional FDI Motivations

Myropi Garri Orcid Logo, Malcolm Beynon Orcid Logo, Jae Kim Orcid Logo, David Pickernell Orcid Logo

Management International Review

Swansea University Authors: Jae Kim Orcid Logo, David Pickernell Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/s11575-025-00607-2

Abstract

Trump's re-election reshaped US geopolitics and trade policy, with significant implications for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), particularly from state-driven economies like China. Understanding how Chinese policy shapes FDI in geopolitically sensitive regions like Africa is crucial. This pape...

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Published in: Management International Review
ISSN: 0938-8249 1861-8901
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70998
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Understanding how Chinese policy shapes FDI in geopolitically sensitive regions like Africa is crucial. This paper examines the interplay between traditional FDI motivations and policy influences driving FDI presence or absence in Africa. Adopting configurational theorising, we employ longitudinal, panel fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) across 46 African countries from 2012 to 2018. We find that policy/ political influences are integral to Chinese-FDI motivations. They consistently enable, accommodate, and complement traditional FDI motivations, reducing Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)&#x2019; risks and entry barriers, while fostering China&#x2019;s long-term control over critical markets and resources. For Chinese-FDI combinations of motivations (pathways) drive FDI. The changes in pathways&#x2019; strength and geographical coverage are shaped by the presence of political influence and potentially reflect shifts in Chinese political priorities. We contribute to internalisation theory and OLI, by integrating policy/ political drivers into location advantages to explain FDI-motivations. We showcase how Chinese MNEs utilise their ownership advantages to create internationally transferable location advantages, thereby supporting Chinese MNEs and implementing Chinese policy. The longitudinal fsQCA approach to analyse complex, evolving FDI motivations provides new insights into Chinese FDI in Africa. 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spelling 2026-02-18T14:26:40.3132228 v2 70998 2025-11-27 Explaining Chinese FDI in Africa: A Longitudinal Configurational Approach Integrating Policy Influences to Traditional FDI Motivations ec3bd686cb02d42122bb927241d6b451 0000-0002-1055-8652 Jae Kim Jae Kim true false 913bd73da00d7df4f5038f6f144b235e 0000-0003-0912-095X David Pickernell David Pickernell true false 2025-11-27 CBAE Trump's re-election reshaped US geopolitics and trade policy, with significant implications for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), particularly from state-driven economies like China. Understanding how Chinese policy shapes FDI in geopolitically sensitive regions like Africa is crucial. This paper examines the interplay between traditional FDI motivations and policy influences driving FDI presence or absence in Africa. Adopting configurational theorising, we employ longitudinal, panel fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) across 46 African countries from 2012 to 2018. We find that policy/ political influences are integral to Chinese-FDI motivations. They consistently enable, accommodate, and complement traditional FDI motivations, reducing Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)’ risks and entry barriers, while fostering China’s long-term control over critical markets and resources. For Chinese-FDI combinations of motivations (pathways) drive FDI. The changes in pathways’ strength and geographical coverage are shaped by the presence of political influence and potentially reflect shifts in Chinese political priorities. We contribute to internalisation theory and OLI, by integrating policy/ political drivers into location advantages to explain FDI-motivations. We showcase how Chinese MNEs utilise their ownership advantages to create internationally transferable location advantages, thereby supporting Chinese MNEs and implementing Chinese policy. The longitudinal fsQCA approach to analyse complex, evolving FDI motivations provides new insights into Chinese FDI in Africa. By addressing the nuanced role of economic diplomacy and the Chinese competitive state system, we offer practical implications for policymakers and managers aiming to attract and equitably manage Chinese-FDI, and to predict the future FDI location decisions of China to proactively manage their economic and geopolitical implications. Journal Article Management International Review 0 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 0938-8249 1861-8901 Chinese-FDI motivation; Policy influence; Configurational theorising; Longitudinal panel fsQCA; Africa;Economic diplomacy 26 1 2026 2026-01-26 10.1007/s11575-025-00607-2 COLLEGE NANME Management School COLLEGE CODE CBAE Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee 2026-02-18T14:26:40.3132228 2025-11-27T11:59:48.5337785 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Management - Business Management Myropi Garri 0000-0002-2462-0613 1 Malcolm Beynon 0000-0002-5757-270x 2 Jae Kim 0000-0002-1055-8652 3 David Pickernell 0000-0003-0912-095X 4 70998__36264__336b98662a6e42d7b965226854196189.pdf 70998.VoR.pdf 2026-02-18T14:20:50.1059783 Output 2605613 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Explaining Chinese FDI in Africa: A Longitudinal Configurational Approach Integrating Policy Influences to Traditional FDI Motivations
spellingShingle Explaining Chinese FDI in Africa: A Longitudinal Configurational Approach Integrating Policy Influences to Traditional FDI Motivations
Jae Kim
David Pickernell
title_short Explaining Chinese FDI in Africa: A Longitudinal Configurational Approach Integrating Policy Influences to Traditional FDI Motivations
title_full Explaining Chinese FDI in Africa: A Longitudinal Configurational Approach Integrating Policy Influences to Traditional FDI Motivations
title_fullStr Explaining Chinese FDI in Africa: A Longitudinal Configurational Approach Integrating Policy Influences to Traditional FDI Motivations
title_full_unstemmed Explaining Chinese FDI in Africa: A Longitudinal Configurational Approach Integrating Policy Influences to Traditional FDI Motivations
title_sort Explaining Chinese FDI in Africa: A Longitudinal Configurational Approach Integrating Policy Influences to Traditional FDI Motivations
author_id_str_mv ec3bd686cb02d42122bb927241d6b451
913bd73da00d7df4f5038f6f144b235e
author_id_fullname_str_mv ec3bd686cb02d42122bb927241d6b451_***_Jae Kim
913bd73da00d7df4f5038f6f144b235e_***_David Pickernell
author Jae Kim
David Pickernell
author2 Myropi Garri
Malcolm Beynon
Jae Kim
David Pickernell
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department_str School of Management - Business Management{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Management - Business Management
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description Trump's re-election reshaped US geopolitics and trade policy, with significant implications for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), particularly from state-driven economies like China. Understanding how Chinese policy shapes FDI in geopolitically sensitive regions like Africa is crucial. This paper examines the interplay between traditional FDI motivations and policy influences driving FDI presence or absence in Africa. Adopting configurational theorising, we employ longitudinal, panel fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) across 46 African countries from 2012 to 2018. We find that policy/ political influences are integral to Chinese-FDI motivations. They consistently enable, accommodate, and complement traditional FDI motivations, reducing Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)’ risks and entry barriers, while fostering China’s long-term control over critical markets and resources. For Chinese-FDI combinations of motivations (pathways) drive FDI. The changes in pathways’ strength and geographical coverage are shaped by the presence of political influence and potentially reflect shifts in Chinese political priorities. We contribute to internalisation theory and OLI, by integrating policy/ political drivers into location advantages to explain FDI-motivations. We showcase how Chinese MNEs utilise their ownership advantages to create internationally transferable location advantages, thereby supporting Chinese MNEs and implementing Chinese policy. The longitudinal fsQCA approach to analyse complex, evolving FDI motivations provides new insights into Chinese FDI in Africa. By addressing the nuanced role of economic diplomacy and the Chinese competitive state system, we offer practical implications for policymakers and managers aiming to attract and equitably manage Chinese-FDI, and to predict the future FDI location decisions of China to proactively manage their economic and geopolitical implications.
published_date 2026-01-26T06:46:10Z
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