Globalisation and underdevelopment:

Foreign economic activity in the Sub-Saharan region has already passed through a neo-colonial phase, in a new context that is marked by the competition of the wealthiest national economies for the overexploitation of the abundant natural resources of African countries, and more recently of critical raw materials and rare earths, by multinational enterprises. The present analysis aims to identify any linkages between foreign investment activity and the combined impact of multiple crises, and the tendency of local populations to flee abroad, especially in the Sahel region, during the recent period (2009-2021). At a methodological level, the analysis will employ the bias correction estimation in order to statistically confirm the determinants of local populations’ exodus from their places of origin. The empirical results indicate that the intensity of foreign investment, although by definition contributing to the increase in per capita investment, proves to be insufficient to prevent the outflow of populations from Sahel countries. The otherwise causal relationships between the multiple crises occurring in the region and their repulsive effect on individuals are confirmed. The need to regulate the activities of multinational enterprises in the Sahel, often of European origin, is now imperative, and within the multipolar economic system under formation, European states are called upon to serve as a paradigm.