Macroeconomic Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in WAEMU Countries: The Place of Electronic Communication

In order to contribute in boosting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the West African Economic Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries, this article aims to empirically establish the role of various macroeconomic determinants in attracting FDI by focusing specifically on electronic communication. The empirical estimates are based on panel data covering the period 1996-2014. These data come from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and World Development Indicators (WDI) databases. Inspired from Arellano-Bond methodology, we estimate a fixed effects model for the sake of analysis. From the results, the electronic communication appears to be non-determinant for the attraction of FDI in the WAEMU countries. This result may be explained by the considerable level of electronic communication development prevailing currently in the union. In addition, it appears that economic dynamism captured through the gross domestic product, the weight of international trade and natural resources are the current key factors for attracting FDI in the union. Moreover, the increase in government spending tends to oust FDI.