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A long way to the rainbow country
A study of the development of operations of Finnish firms in the Republic of South Africa

Evariste Habiyakare

Since 1990 many western companies got openly engaged in trade and investment with South Africa. Finnish firms which were having interest in the South African markets as suppliers of industrial equipments and expertise were then faced with different choices: either get more involved on the South African market or continue servicing that market from far away. This study seeks to analyse how Finnish firms have gone to South Africa and which institutional- specific factors have affected or determined these South African operations.

The research problem addressed in this study centres on the development of foreign operations in a turbulent environment. The main objective is achieved through answering following research questions: Can existing (western) economic concepts and models be used to investigate the development of operations of Finnish firms in Africa? Or to what extent do existing models of foreign direct investments apply to the Finnish- South African case? Which role do institutional changes in the Republic of South Africa play on the foreign direct investment decision and on the development of operations strategies of the established units? What kind of operations have Finnish companies developed in South Africa over time and how has the turbulent environment influenced the development of their operations in South Africa? Can the Finnish-South African experience shed light on the internationalisation phenomenon towards emergent markets in developing countries?