Internationalization strategies of frontier Lusophone-African multinational enterprises: Comparative case studies of Angola and Mozambique

ABSTRACT Internationalization theories suggest that enterprises from emerging and frontier markets will adopt different entry modes than those in advanced economies. Very few studies to date, however, examine the process of how multinational enterprises (MNEs) from frontier markets internationalize or evaluate which factors influence their mode of entry into global markets. This research investigates the internationalization strategies of Lusophone Africa MNEs from Angola and Mozambique, more specifically their entry mode, to expand the framework for entry mode strategies to include the motivations and issues of MNEs from emerging and frontier economies. Surveys, as well as in-depth, in-country, qualitative interviews reveal that these frontier and emerging market MNEs opted for equity-based investment strategies as their preferred mode of entry. A significant second group opted for e-commerce/e-business strategies, and direct and indirect exports. Finally, 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.