Randrianirina sworn in as Malagasy president

Colonel Michael Randrianirina of the Malagasy army unit CAPSAT has been sworn in as the new president of Madagascar, just days after carrying out a military takeover of the island. The change in leadership in Madagascar came as the result of three weeks of social unrest and widespread violence, after young Malagasy people staged a demonstration following increasingly regular…

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Economy and ecology: Rajoelina sets priorities at UN

Malagasy President Andriy Rajoelina used his speech to the UN General Assembly to focus on the Malagasy economy, and its environment, noting both require and deserve help from beyond the Malagasy borders. Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday (24th September) Rajoelina said the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a deal with sub-Saharan African states which has run…

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90 per cent of Malagasy people living in poverty

On Thursday 5th June 2025, the World Bank updated its – and the world’s – poverty metric. Up to that date, the international poverty baseline – the line below which anyone is defined as living in poverty – had been an income of US$2.15 (£1.59 at 8th September 2025) or less per day. From then, the income per day…

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Development and Environment: cooperation, not competition

Madagascar has led calls for Southern African nations to increase their manufacturing capacity to 30 per cent of their GDP by 2030. The island republic on Sunday (17th August) hosted the 45th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit of Heads of State and Government – the first time it has hosted the annual meeting. Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina assumed…

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Funding cuts hit Malagasy communities

‘Bordeaux (who only wished to give his first name), a farmer with sharp features, does not know who Donald Trump is, but he knows that everything stopped for him in February. Suddenly, gone were the promises of a permanent house, enough seed for five years, fertilizers, farming equipment and technical support to cultivate a two-hectare field provided by the…

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Forgive debts which cannot be paid

The world’s ‘developing states’ – primarily nations in the global South – should have their debt written off, according to an economic report commissioned by the Vatican. The Jubilee Report also recommends the restructuring of the global economic system to enable countries experiencing emergencies to access commonly held assets interest- and policy condition-free to stabilise their economies at difficult…

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