The Role of Foreign Direct Investment

Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) have been found to be important aspects of economic development of host countries, and crucial, in building technological capabilities of local companies in developing countries. It is a channel for international diffusion of technology, having the potential to transfer technological, organizational and managerial practices to developing countries, which may, in the long run, lead to higher technological capabilities, and innovation, resulting in economic growth in these countries.

For Tanzania specifically, FDI is a type of investment which is relatively infant as the government had opted for a socialist path of economic development from 1967 to around mid 1980s, following the Arusha Declaration. In mid 1980s, the government initiated and implemented deliberate economic liberalization policies. These resulted into the rise of FDI in Tanzania. For instance, FDI inflows increased from USD 2,418.7 million in 1999 to USD 3,776.6 million in 2001. Such investments were concentrated in the sectors of manufacturing (33.4%), mining and quarrying (28%) as well as agricultural (6.7%) (BoT, NBS and TIC, 2004: 23-24).