Continuity at the head of state
Easily re-elected in the first round in November, the outgoing Malagasy president Andry Rajoelina opted for continuity by reappointing Christian Ntsay as Prime Minister. 15 ministers from the previous government also remain in office and 12 new names appear. Among them, Rasata attack, a young executive from the same ministry, takes the Foreign Affairs portfolio, previously entrusted to Yvette Sylla. General Sahivelo Delphin, former chief of staff of the armed forces, becomes Minister of Defense. The mayor of Antananarivo, Naina Andriantsitohaina, enters the government as Minister of Decentralization and Regional Planning. Ministers were asked to take an oath and pledge not to give in to corruption.
100 million dollars are needed to turn around Madagascar Airlines
Created in 2022 to replace Air Madagascar and including its domestic subsidiary Tsara Dia, Since last November, Madagascar Airlines has reduced its activity to domestic flights only.. Its general director, Thierry de Bailleul, presented a three-year recovery plan, which requires finding $100 million in new money. The World Bank agreed at the end of November to lend $20 million to the Malagasy state to begin this recovery. This sum must be injected into improving aircraft maintenance and the digitalization of services..
Tourism : recovery
The Madagascar destination is gradually regaining its attractiveness : according to the Ministry of Tourism, the Big Island welcomed 206,000 external visitors during the first eleven months of 2023 (compared to 132,000 in total in 2022) despite the deterioration of its air service. Attendance should quickly return to its level before the health crisis. The Ministry of Tourism announces the very ambitious objective of one million international visitors before the end of the decade.
Medicines distributed by drones
The Aerial Metric company, which uses drones to acquire and process aerial data to produce maps and topographical data, developed another profession : distribution of medicines by air in landlocked areas. Over the past five years, it has developed a cargo drone capable of carrying a load ranging from 3 to 10 kilos over a hundred kilometers. Medicines and vaccines are then dropped near basic health centers, in isolated bush areas, on behalf of the Ministry of Health, NGOs or United Nations entities. For the moment, Aerial Metric has three takeoff points, in the east of the country ; she estimates at 15 the number of points that would be necessary to cover the entire Big Island.
The trade deficit is widening
From January to November, the value of Malagasy imports was 6,438 billion ariarys higher (environ 1,3 billion euros) to that of the country's exports, according to the General Directorate of Customs. The Malagasy trade deficit, which amounted to 6,722 billion ariarys in 2022, should therefore widen a little more in 2023. The main export items from the Big Island are currently nickel-cobalt, agricultural product tracking (including vanilla, lychee and cloves) and textile products. Madagascar exports in particular for more than 400 million dollars per year (approximately 1,850 billion ariarys) textiles to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). In terms of imports, the biggest item is raw materials, ahead of energy products and capital goods.
The ariary at its lowest
The Malagasy currency depreciated sharply in 2023 against the euro. Early January, the ariary stood at 4,940 for one euro on the interbank currency market, compared to 4,650 a year earlier. The price of the currency of the Big Island is at its lowest since the end of the 1980s, when it was decided to let it float at the discretion of the currency market. The deterioration is less compared to the dollar, currency used in 60% of the country’s foreign transactions.
Crab sector : an export quota of 2,500 tonnes
The Malagasy Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy allocated a global quota of 2,500 tonnes of mangrove crabs at the end of December, distributed between 24 exporting companies. Fifteen of them are authorized to export frozen crabs for a maximum quota of 1,200 tonnes. Five more can export live crabs, only to China and Hong Kong, for a quota of 1,100 tonnes. A quota of 200 tonnes of live crabs was also granted to four companies for export to the rest of the world..
