Olufemi P. Adeyeye

Several studies have been conducted to examine the influence of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow on economic growth. Indeed, the overall evidence is best characterized as mixed. This paper investigates the effect of FDI on economic growth in some randomly selected African economies from 1980 to 2013, using a modified growth model by Agrawal and Khan (2011). This model consists of Gross Domestic Product, Human Capital, International Technology Transfer, Labor Force, FDI and Gross Capital Formation (GCF). Ordinary least squares and generalized method of moments were used as the estimation techniques. Of all the results, only Gross Capital Formation, Human Capital, and International Technology Transfer in the Central African Republic were found not to have any statistically significant influence on economic growth. In general, the impact of FDI on economic growth in African countries is limited or negligible. Consequently, this study observes that a 1% increase in FDI would result in a 0.12% increase in GDP for South Africa, a 0.05% increase in Egypt, a 0.03% increase in Nigeria, a 0.02% increase in Kenya, and a 1% increase in GDP in the Central African Republic. The findings also reveal that South Africa’s growth is more affected by FDI than the other four countries. The study also provides possible reasons behind South Africa’s great show of FDI and the lessons other African countries could learn from South Africa better utilization of FDI. This study integrates the related drivers of the effectiveness and success of FDI

The impact of financial risks on share prices concerns investors, company executives and accounting standards developers. Investors need this information in delineating their equity valuation models while company executives need the information to make appropriate capital structure decisions. Accounting standards developers use this information in their policy to make accounting standards contemporary.
The authors examine the link between relative and absolute financial risks and share prices using a dynamic panel of non-financial listed companies on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange after dollarization. Equity investors incurred losses before dollarization, which prompted this investigation into the sphere of financial risks in order to explain share price movements so that investors can use it to minimize losses in the future. Absolute financial risk is measured by the total debt, while debt/equity ratio measures relative financial risk. Market capitalization as a proxy for equity and debt is measured by total liabilities. An average debt/equity ratio greater or equal to one qualifies a firm into the high-risk category while ratios below one imply low-risk firms. Results from two-step System Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) show negative and significant connection between relative risk and share prices across risk categories. The impact of absolute risk on share prices differs by risk category. Firm managers are advised to keep total liabilities below market capitalization in order to enjoy the benefits of low-risk categorization. Debt ratio is a reasonable indicator of value and investors can use it in equity valuation. Mandatory reporting of debt ratios should be considered by accounting standards developers.