Lusophone-African multinational enterprises internationalization mode: a case analysis of Angolan and Mozambican enterprises

Abstract

Several internationalization theories have been developed over the past few decades that have made significant contributions in explaining the enterprise internationalization and their mode of entry strategy. It has been suggested that the determinants of entry mode choice of enterprises from emerging and frontier markets differ from those of comparable enterprises from advanced economies. A literature review appears to indicate that there is a need to expand the framework for entry mode strategies to accommodate the expansion issues enterprises from emerging and frontier countries face in the global marketplace. Nevertheless, not much information and an acceptable conclusion have been made on how MNEs from frontier markets internationalize and what factors influence their choice of entry into those markets. This study investigated the internationalization strategies of Lusophone Africa MNEs from Angola and Mozambique, more specifically, their entry mode. Information was gathered through a survey of 29 MNE’s upper management respondents and subsequent face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 24 of them in their countries. The results of this study suggest that most MNEs opted for equity-based investment strategies, mainly joint ventures and M&E as their preferred mode of entry when internationalizing. A significant group of them opted for eCommerce/ e-business strategies and direct and indirect exports. A smaller portion of the interviewees chose Greenfield investment as a mode of entry. Many of these MNEs could be classified as born global/INV. Finally, this study presents a conceptual framework for use in studying the entry mode choice of enterprises from Lusophone Africa frontier markets and offers research propositions for better understanding the determinants of entry mode strategies of enterprise from Angola and Mozambique.