South Africa: A Re-emerging Player in Global Outward FDI and a New Investor in East Central Europe?

The chapter deals with the successful reintegration of South Africa into the world economy after the demise of the apartheid regime in 1994 via foreign direct investment flows and the internationalisation of South African multinational companies. The chapter presents the magnitude, the trends, the main forms and motives as well as the geographical and sectoral distribution of outward foreign direct investment of South Africa. A unique feature of the chapter is that it analyses the state of South African investments in the Central and Eastern European region to where foreign capital is attracted by a wide range of political, macroeconomic and institutional pull factors. The chapter explores the sectoral preference of South African investors which are real estate, retail and e-commerce, manufacturing and healthcare.