Business Environment and Investment in Africa: an Overview

Despite more than a decade of reforms in many African countries, investment and growth rates are still far below the levels required for sustainable development. This article provides an overview of the papers published in the present issue, which analyse the business environment as well as the determinants of investment. The overview focuses on: (i) an analysis of macroeconomic factors explaining private investment experiences across developing countries, with particular implications for Africa; (ii) macroeconomic evidence on manufacturing investment based on surveys from several Sub?Saharan African (SSA) countries; (iii) a macro?and micro?assessment of investment productivity using cross?country production-function estimation based on a sample of SSA countries and a case study of the Tanzanian manufacturing sector; and (iv) an analysis of the business environment, featuring 'networking' markets as a primary resource allocation mechanism in Africa.