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• Cancellations of some surgeries and medical procedures in South Africa amid the Covid-19 pandemic pose significant downside risks to the country's medical device market.
• We now forecast that the medical device market will grow by 4.0% in 2020 and contract by -5.0% in 2021 in local currency terms, compared to our previous projections

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• Following tentative launches in 2021, we expect uptake of consumer 5G services to be accelerated by mobile-based offerings from 2023, as South Africa's operators increase their investments into the technology.
• A long-awaited spectrum auction, network modernisation and deployment, the potential for wholesale service provision and the

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• We at Fitch Solutions expect the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to maintain its dovish stance over the coming quarters, cutting its repo rate by a further 100 basis points (bps) to 3.25% over 2020.
• Although negative global sentiment and resulting currency depreciation will raise imported price pressures, our core expectation is

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• The South African government implemented a 21 day national lockdown on March 23 2020, in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19 (coronavirus) in the country.
• Our initial assessment is that essential retail operations will be shielded and demand will increase during the lockdown, as household spending reprioritises to focus on essential

Key View

• Boosted by a large population and universal healthcare roll-out efforts, South Africa’s healthcare market will post robust growth in the coming years.
• However, the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak will pose significant hurdles to universal healthcare achievement.
• High barriers to accessing healthcare and a strong prevalence of

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• The digitisation of traditional banking services and products and higher levels of fintech innovation continue to drive changes in South Africa's financial services landscape.
• Established financial services providers will continue to optimise their digital platforms, targeting improvements in the breadth, quality and convenience of

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• South Africa’s National Health Insurance scheme bodes well for significant expansion of access to healthcare services.
• The NHI will present opportunities for drugmakers in the country, but the overall pharmaceutical market will post a modest growth in the coming years.
• Out-of-pocket costs and percentage of medical aid scheme

Key View

• The growing level of operating risk that automakers face in South Africa, is driving them to tackle the relatively manageable risk that they face, such as their electricity and labour risks, by going off-grid and producing their own electricity.
• South Africa has seen its attractiveness as an automotive production location steadily