Dr Fotoyi holds a PhD in Economics from Nelson Mandela University. Her PhD thesis assessed the economic impact of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Grant Funding in the Eastern Cape. She also holds an MCom in Economics, BCom Honours in Economics, and BCom General - majoring in Accounting and Economics. She has completed short learning programmes on leadership, governance and economic development.

Dr Fotoyi has over 10 years working experience in the field of economics including government, research and academia. As an Assistant Economist at Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) she was involved in producing, analysing and dissemination of macroeconomic data. As an Economist at Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) she conducted economic research, analysing trade and industrial development trends, and key economic data to support economic policy. At Nelson Mandela University, she was a Lecturer in the subjects of Public Economics, Development Economics, Economic Impact Assessment, Research Methods, and Economic History, as well as supervised post-graduate research.

Dr Fotoyi has over the years worked on several research projects, presented in international and local conferences and seminars, guest lectured, as well as produced publications. She regularly provides science communication and media commentary on economic and development trends.
Dr Fotoyi's research interests broadly cover the areas of public finance, economic development, economic impact assessments, and macroeconomics, with a keen interest on social and economic welfare, fiscal policy, industrial policy, entrepreneurship and small business development, unemployment, inequality and poverty.