The Prospects and Challenges of Turkey's Outw...

The Prospects and Challenges of Turkey's Outward Foreign Direct Investment in Africa: A Swot Analysis Approach

Author Name : Ahmed Abdinur Adan

ABSTRACT

With the ongoing trend of economic globalization, an increasing number of businesses and investors are investing abroad in order to improve their development and earnings performance. Companies may invest overseas to gain access to natural resources, mature technology, or a huge market. Therefore, this study aims to explore the prospects and challenges of Turkey’s outward FDI in Africa, and what it means for investors and businesses. Suggested here are strategies to leverage the strengths and opportunities as well as overcome the weaknesses and threats of these FDI undertakings. This study analyses Turkey’s outward FDI phenomenon in Africa using a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to assess the prospects and challenges of these investment developments. The SWOT analysis identified several strengths (e.g. Political commitment and strong trade policies, Active humanitarian assistance that promotes Turkey positive reputation in the region, Positive outcomes and achievement in certain countries which boosts investors’ confidence), weaknesses (e.g. Slow pace involvement in the region compared to China, US and France, Lack of diversification in investment, Lack of strategies to match with competitors) opportunities (e.g. Strengthen economic collaboration in the continent, Develop Strategy Stewardship, Reinforce the Technology Spillovers, Expansion of Turkish goods and services to African Markets, Maintain Turkish Othman relationships with the Muslim nations in Africa) and threats (e.g. Greater exposure to competition in the region by China, US and France, Difficult in the transfer of industrial firms to Africa with lower cost, Maintaining the image of Turkey in the region, The threat of climate change). This study is crucial for assessing the current situation and the prospects of Turkey outward FDI in Africa and challenges faced by these investment undertaking. This study also offers significant insights for policy-makers and investors to develop appropriate strategies to enhance their investment interests in the African continent. This study is the first of its kind to utilize a SWOT analysis in the context of the rapid development of turkey’s outward FDI undertakings in Africa. Hence, the findings could broaden our knowledge in the outward FDI literatures and enable investors to utilize the strategies presented in this study to hedge against risks posed by their future investment opportunities.

Keyword: Turkey Outward Foreign Direct Investment; Prospects; Challenges; SWOT Analysis, Africa.