Determinants of chinese outward foreign direct investments in africa; sadc and non-sadc countries

As globalization has led to rapid increase in foreign direct investment, China‘s outward foreign direct investments has also been growing rapidly in the global economy. Recently, there have been rapid growing economic activities between China and Africa. Many African countries are trying their best to find ways to attract more Chinese foreign direct investment (OFDI).The performance of Southern Africa Developing Community (SADC) in attracting foreign directinvestment if compared with other regions is poor. This paper aimed at identifying and analyzing the determinants of Chinese OFDI in Africa particularly in SADC and making a comparison between SADC and non-SADC countries. Using panel data analysis for a sample of 21 African countries over the period 2005 to 2012 the study showed that the main determinants identified and most significant in SADC were GDP per Capita, imports, openness to FDI, telephone lines (per 100 people) and being a SADC member.