‘A spike in pandemic-related investments’

EY Africa’s Sandile Hlophe has told the BBC that foreign direct investment in Africa has changed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but not for the worse.

“There has been a spike in investment in certain sectors and industries because of the shift in how we work,” he says.

“Now, if you think about a lockdown environment, a lot of us have had to make payments remotely, so we’ve seen a marked increase in investment into fintech.

“The other big spike is healthcare. With the covid-19 pandemic, our healthcare providers – whether public or private – have had to adopt a lot of digital technology to engage and communicate.

“Investments into cloud capability, data analytics and the use of data has become more prevalent.”

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