International agri-investments have been increasing in Africa in recent years. This chapter contributes to existing discussions on the implications of such investments for the social and economic activities of rural communities in which most of these projects are carried out. The aim is to show the impact of investments for agricultural development and the possibility for rural industrialisation through the agricultural sector. The chapter is underpinned by a qualitative literature review and it utilises secondary sources available in grey and academic literature. It shows that international agri-investments have resulted in rural landlessness, insecurity of tenure, soaring poverty levels, social differentiation, stifled access to natural resources, and food insecurity across the African countryside. It concludes that outside the limited infrastructural development by international investment, the power imbalances by which they are characterised offer no prospects for meaningful development and industrialisation for rural dwellers. The chapter proposes deploying social policy as a development approach that can hold international agri-investments accountable for steering development and industrialisation in rural areas.