Economy in Madagascar

Madagascar's main sources of revenue are the fishing and agriculture. Madagascar's number one export is vanilla and one of their major purchasers is Coca Cola.

Reforms began in 1988 with strong pressure by World Bank. Following this, a privatization program was formed and the creation of an export processing zone came short after. As a result from 1991 to 1996, the economy had minimal growth and the percentage of the population in poverty was incredibly high. During the late 1990's, foreign investors became increasingly interested in Madagascar (particularly in forresting). Although the economy was on the up rise, it was still riddled with corruption due to another period of privatization. This corruption proved to be a bigger problem than previously anticipated when the presidential elections in 2001 were thought to be fixed and a crisis followed, lasting over half a year. This was terribly hard on Madagascar's already struggling economy. It's GDP dropped about 13% and many foreign investors pulled out of the country after this scandal. The economy rebounded in 2003, increasing by 10%. However, due to the currency depreciation and other factors, inflation reached 25% in 2004. A central bank rate was put into place in 2005 and was very successful in both increasing growth and brought inflation levels to an acceptable rate.

Madagascar's growth is mainly in tourism and light manufacturing, agriculture and mining. Madagascar's unique and spectacular climate draws many people to the country every year. Madagascar produces over 50% of the worlds vanilla population and this is a major resource to the country. A large mine in Fort Dauphin opened in 2008 which mines a substance called ilmanite. Mining companies sometimes have difficulty because of strict rules in place to protect the species that surround them. Madagascar is also developing itself in the oil industry and is creating a massive oil field in Tsimiroro.

I feel that there is constant struggle between people trying to protect the environment and businesses. The land is very fragile and the endangered species must be protected. This makes it difficult for the people who live in Madagascar and want to get out of poverty. The restrictions on their ability to develop the land and the lack of essential goods to many of the people make it difficult for the economy to grow. This linked with the corrupted government creates difficult living conditions for natives.

Introduction to Madagascar

Madagascar is an island country off the southeastern coast of Africa. It is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species and over 80% of these species are endemic to Madagascar. This means that all of those species are only found on the island. Two thirds of the population live below the poverty line at $1.25 US dollars a day.


One of the more recent political controversies that took place in Madagascar was the Malagast Political Crisis which took place in January 2009. The protests against the government were organized by a man named Andry Rajoelina who was the mayor of the capital city of Antananarivo. A picture of the capital city is located on the right.

The protests quickly turned violent and over 150 people were killed. Rajoelina then called for a dissolution of the government and for a transitional government to be formed under his leadership. In March 2009, one of the palaces controlled by President Ravalomanana was raided by the army controlled by Rajoelina. The palace was then immediately used for presidential offices by Rajoelina. The African Union spoke against the actions of Rajoelina calling it an attempted coup d'etat. Which is when an already established small political group of the state (often the military) attempts to take control of the country.

Ravalomanana quickly moved to an undisclosed location and the Vice Admiral Ramaroson announced two days later that they were to transfer power directly to Rajoelina. This makes him president of the High Transitional Authority which Ramaroson had created just weeks earlier. The Madagascar Constitution Court deemed this to be a legal operation. Rajoelina said the raid was not a coup d'etat, rather a direct expression of democracy by the people. Only hours later, the navy spoke out about Rajoelina and demanded his immediate resignation in order to protect the constitution of the Nation.

I don't think it is right for Rajoelina to break the constitution of his nation to forcefully gain more power. He called it democracy at work, however, he was running the military and most citizens would be much too afraid to speak against them for fear of death. The navy spoke against them but they did not have the power to move him from his presidency. It is unfortunate that the people do not have the means to speak against him, although many are actually in favor of the new government. It makes it difficult to grasp the dominant opinion of the nation without an anonymous survey, which have not been published. This seems to be yet another dictator hiding behind the rule of 'democracy'.