ABSTRACT
Foreign direct investment' (FDI) is a term that captures a wide range of transactions, usefully categorizing diverse investment activities, but potentially obscuring as much as it illuminates when interpreted in such a broad manner so as to suggest that all transactions caught within its ambit are the same. ICT hardware and software are expensive and ICT applications adapted for business use tend to be privately owned. Many governments lack the means to purchase what they require. FDI provides a potential avenue for such countries to acquire some of the investment needed and it forms an integral part of many nation's industrial development strategies. An examination of the factors that mediate the relationship between FDI and economic growth suggests that they overlap significantly with those that mediate the relationship between ICT and economic growth. Efficiency seeking FDI looks to redistribute globally a Multinational corporation's (MNC) activities in many instances on the basis of specialization which implies knowledge.
