Anglo-Malagasy Society Newsletter 101: September 2018 |
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Society activities
The next Society meeting will be in the daytime on Saturday 27th October 2018 when the newly-appointed Ambassador of Madagascar to the UK, Andry Raharinomena, will be in attendance to introduce himself and to discuss his ambitions for the new role he took up in August. He was previously a programme manager within the office of the president dealing with donors and investors, as well as a special advisor to the Minister of Finance and Director-General for International and Economic Affairs at the foreign ministry.
There will be four talks by Malagasy students in the UK: Mino Koloina Rakotolehibe on the use of apps and mobile technology in education in Madagascar; Tsiori Rakotondratsito on the pros and cons of tourists attending famadihana ceremonies; Daniella Rabino on the creation of more sustainable communities for rural youth in the country; and Mirado Rakotoharimalala on the role of football in developing a Malagasy community.
The dates for the meetings in 2019 are on the evenings of 13th March and 26th June and then during the day on 19th October.
Details of the events are on Facebook and our website, which also has a summary of some of the previous talks for those unable to attend, together with much other useful information. This includes directions to the venue for our meetings, which is the Upper Vestry Hall of St George’s Church, Bloomsbury, London WC1A 2HR, two minutes’ walk from the British Museum.
The next newsletter will be published in December 2018. Please send any material for inclusion as well as any changes in your contact details to the editor Julian Cooke, whose e-mail address is juliancooke@yahoo.co.uk.
There will be four talks by Malagasy students in the UK: Mino Koloina Rakotolehibe on the use of apps and mobile technology in education in Madagascar; Tsiori Rakotondratsito on the pros and cons of tourists attending famadihana ceremonies; Daniella Rabino on the creation of more sustainable communities for rural youth in the country; and Mirado Rakotoharimalala on the role of football in developing a Malagasy community.
The dates for the meetings in 2019 are on the evenings of 13th March and 26th June and then during the day on 19th October.
Details of the events are on Facebook and our website, which also has a summary of some of the previous talks for those unable to attend, together with much other useful information. This includes directions to the venue for our meetings, which is the Upper Vestry Hall of St George’s Church, Bloomsbury, London WC1A 2HR, two minutes’ walk from the British Museum.
The next newsletter will be published in December 2018. Please send any material for inclusion as well as any changes in your contact details to the editor Julian Cooke, whose e-mail address is juliancooke@yahoo.co.uk.
Politics in Madagascar
The political position in Madagascar has been dominated by the first round of the presidential elections, which are due to be held on 7th November, with a second round to follow a month later. The cost of the poll has been put at 40bn ariary (c. £9m), a higher amount than first expected, while the EU committed to cover c. €3.5m of the costs. Later in the quarter Germany was confirmed as providing $500,000, Japan $400,000, the UK $150,000 and South Korea $100,000 (if not necessarily in US$); at the end of September the shortfall was approximately $1m. There was a good deal of unofficial campaigning by the likes of the former president Andry Rajoelina and the former prime minister Jean Ravelonarivo; the electoral commission CENI said it had no mandate to limit the amounts spent on such campaigns, as did the Haute Cour Consitutionnelle (HCC). The official campaign is due to run from 8th October to 6th November.
In July the opposition (which comprised MAPAR, which supports Rajoelina, the TIM party of Marc Ravalomanana and a number of independents) ended their protests in the capital and shifted their support to unions, such as teachers on strike. Christian Ntsay, the new prime minister, thanked those who had helped to end the protests. The protest movement morphed in part into another known as HFI (Hetsika ho an’ny Fanorenana Ifotony ho an’i Madagasikara) which called for a re-foundation of Madagascar from the lower levels of society with a focus on the fokontany. Its leaders included Pety Rakotonirina, a former mayor of Fianarantsoa, while Ravalomanana also gave it some support, although the movement excluded any candidates for the elections.
On 15th July the newly-appointed Cardinal Désiré Tsarahazana held a mass at Toamasina attended by a large number of the faithful. He criticised the spread of corruption in the country and the empty promises of politicians; among those attending were the president, prime minister and Rajoelina. In the following days the anti-corruption agency BIANCO opened an investigation into sixteen deputies over possible corruption in the allegations of payment for votes in the debate on 5th April, which was seen as a reflection of the ebbing impunity of those in power.
A delegation from the African Union visited Madagascar from 18th July, led by the AU’s Commissioner for Political Affairs.
President Hery Rajaonarimampianina’s party VVM was weakened by the departure of the former prime minister Mahafaly Solonandrasana and the former education minister Paul Rabary, who in mid-July were reported to be ready to stand in the elections against him. Rabary resigned from the party on 23rd July. On 27th July Rivo Rakotovao resigned as president of the party saying that membership would not be compatible with an interim role as head of the country which would fall to him for the elections from 7th September in his capacity as president of the Senate.
On 1st August the lists for candidates opened. Those who have entered include Ravalomanana, Rajoelina and Rajaonarimampianina; three former prime ministers in Omer Beriziky, Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana and General Jean Ravelonarivo; Zafimahaleo Rasolonfondrasolo or Dama, who led the group Mahaleo and who was a deputy in the 1990s; Paul Rabary and another former minister in Roland Ratsiraka; and Saraha Rabearisoa, for the new Parti Libéral Démocrate (PLD).
Rajoelina was the first to lodge his candidature and launched his official campaign with a call for his Initiative pour l’émergence de Madagascar. He said that he was not representing any party but instead the Malagasy people, that he had changed since 2009 and that one of his first measures would be to suppress the Senate, which he saw as too costly. He received support from the MMM party of Hajo Andrianainarivelo who had been placed third in the 2013 election with 11% of the vote as well as from Jean-Louis Robinson of Avana, who had previously supported Ravalomanana. In September Norbert Lala Ratsirahonana added his support; he had been a special adviser to Rajaonarimampianina from 2015 but had previously been one to Rajoelina, whose VIVA media outlets had evolved from his own.
Rajaonarimampianina confirmed his candidature on 17th August, four days before the list closed, presenting himself as a force for continuity and preparing to stand down from his role by 6th September in line with the constitution. Ravalomanana announced on 19th August that he would stand, on the day when he joined Rajaonarimampianina in a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the FJKM, the association of Protestant churches. There was a rush of eighteen candidates on the last day which took the total recorded by the HCC to 46; these included Jean-Max Rakotomamonjy, the head of the National Assembly, and Didier Ratsiraka, the other former president and one who will be 82 in November. There had been 49 candidates in 2013 although six were disqualified as they had not deposited the 50m ariary required. This time the HCC disqualified ten who fell short of the various requirements, and later rejected their appeals, leaving 36 to contest the election.
In mid-August the HCC confirmed that members of the government including minsters should not attend public meetings during the campaign as part of the prime minister’s efforts to ensure the impartiality of the administration. He said that South Africa would provide helicopters to help with the collection of votes.
On 21st August the reconciliation council, the Conseil du Fampihavanana Malagasy (CFM), published its charter for what it called a pacification of the electoral process, setting out various moral and ethical standards for candidates to follow.
On the last weekend of August Ravalomanana held his first public meeting which also marked the 15th anniversary of his TIM party; he said if elected he would bring calm and discipline as well as an improved business environment.
The African Union proposed to send a representative Ramtane Lamamra to review the status on the election; he had been present in April-May at the time of the search for a consensus prime minister. The electoral commission said that there would be 9,913,559 voters in the election after some 250,000 duplicate entries were withdrawn.
In early September President Rajaonarimampianina met President Xi of China at the Forum on China-African Co-operation in Beijing. Xi said that relations between the two countries were at a strong point and that they should co-operate on a number of matters, while his counterpart Rajaonarimampianina supported China’s Belt and Bridge strategy.
On 6th September Ratsiraka, supported by a number of other candidates including the former prime minister Solonandrasana , called for the elections to be postponed and for a transitional government to run the country.
In July the opposition (which comprised MAPAR, which supports Rajoelina, the TIM party of Marc Ravalomanana and a number of independents) ended their protests in the capital and shifted their support to unions, such as teachers on strike. Christian Ntsay, the new prime minister, thanked those who had helped to end the protests. The protest movement morphed in part into another known as HFI (Hetsika ho an’ny Fanorenana Ifotony ho an’i Madagasikara) which called for a re-foundation of Madagascar from the lower levels of society with a focus on the fokontany. Its leaders included Pety Rakotonirina, a former mayor of Fianarantsoa, while Ravalomanana also gave it some support, although the movement excluded any candidates for the elections.
On 15th July the newly-appointed Cardinal Désiré Tsarahazana held a mass at Toamasina attended by a large number of the faithful. He criticised the spread of corruption in the country and the empty promises of politicians; among those attending were the president, prime minister and Rajoelina. In the following days the anti-corruption agency BIANCO opened an investigation into sixteen deputies over possible corruption in the allegations of payment for votes in the debate on 5th April, which was seen as a reflection of the ebbing impunity of those in power.
A delegation from the African Union visited Madagascar from 18th July, led by the AU’s Commissioner for Political Affairs.
President Hery Rajaonarimampianina’s party VVM was weakened by the departure of the former prime minister Mahafaly Solonandrasana and the former education minister Paul Rabary, who in mid-July were reported to be ready to stand in the elections against him. Rabary resigned from the party on 23rd July. On 27th July Rivo Rakotovao resigned as president of the party saying that membership would not be compatible with an interim role as head of the country which would fall to him for the elections from 7th September in his capacity as president of the Senate.
On 1st August the lists for candidates opened. Those who have entered include Ravalomanana, Rajoelina and Rajaonarimampianina; three former prime ministers in Omer Beriziky, Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana and General Jean Ravelonarivo; Zafimahaleo Rasolonfondrasolo or Dama, who led the group Mahaleo and who was a deputy in the 1990s; Paul Rabary and another former minister in Roland Ratsiraka; and Saraha Rabearisoa, for the new Parti Libéral Démocrate (PLD).
Rajoelina was the first to lodge his candidature and launched his official campaign with a call for his Initiative pour l’émergence de Madagascar. He said that he was not representing any party but instead the Malagasy people, that he had changed since 2009 and that one of his first measures would be to suppress the Senate, which he saw as too costly. He received support from the MMM party of Hajo Andrianainarivelo who had been placed third in the 2013 election with 11% of the vote as well as from Jean-Louis Robinson of Avana, who had previously supported Ravalomanana. In September Norbert Lala Ratsirahonana added his support; he had been a special adviser to Rajaonarimampianina from 2015 but had previously been one to Rajoelina, whose VIVA media outlets had evolved from his own.
Rajaonarimampianina confirmed his candidature on 17th August, four days before the list closed, presenting himself as a force for continuity and preparing to stand down from his role by 6th September in line with the constitution. Ravalomanana announced on 19th August that he would stand, on the day when he joined Rajaonarimampianina in a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the FJKM, the association of Protestant churches. There was a rush of eighteen candidates on the last day which took the total recorded by the HCC to 46; these included Jean-Max Rakotomamonjy, the head of the National Assembly, and Didier Ratsiraka, the other former president and one who will be 82 in November. There had been 49 candidates in 2013 although six were disqualified as they had not deposited the 50m ariary required. This time the HCC disqualified ten who fell short of the various requirements, and later rejected their appeals, leaving 36 to contest the election.
In mid-August the HCC confirmed that members of the government including minsters should not attend public meetings during the campaign as part of the prime minister’s efforts to ensure the impartiality of the administration. He said that South Africa would provide helicopters to help with the collection of votes.
On 21st August the reconciliation council, the Conseil du Fampihavanana Malagasy (CFM), published its charter for what it called a pacification of the electoral process, setting out various moral and ethical standards for candidates to follow.
On the last weekend of August Ravalomanana held his first public meeting which also marked the 15th anniversary of his TIM party; he said if elected he would bring calm and discipline as well as an improved business environment.
The African Union proposed to send a representative Ramtane Lamamra to review the status on the election; he had been present in April-May at the time of the search for a consensus prime minister. The electoral commission said that there would be 9,913,559 voters in the election after some 250,000 duplicate entries were withdrawn.
In early September President Rajaonarimampianina met President Xi of China at the Forum on China-African Co-operation in Beijing. Xi said that relations between the two countries were at a strong point and that they should co-operate on a number of matters, while his counterpart Rajaonarimampianina supported China’s Belt and Bridge strategy.
On 6th September Ratsiraka, supported by a number of other candidates including the former prime minister Solonandrasana , called for the elections to be postponed and for a transitional government to run the country.
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Rajaonarimampianina duly stepped down on 7th September when Rivo Rakotovao, the head of the Senate, assumed his role in a move that was welcomed by the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, whom he met at the General Assembly in New York. Mananjara Andriambololona, the deputy president of the Senate, assumed Rakotovao’s role in turn.
In mid-September Rajoelina made a visit to France to appeal to the Malagasy diaspora, although he met some opposition. He also published a book Par amour de la patrie which provided his version of events in recent years; the magazine Jeune Afrique reviewed it. |
An observation team from the EU arrived on 21st September, led by the MEP Christian Preda with a team of ten who would be followed by forty observers after 6th October.
In late September the magazine Politika was barred from publishing the results of an opinion poll which the government had seen as a threat to public order; the poll was commissioned by Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Representatives of only 27 of the 36 candidates attended a meeting to launch a charter for good conduct and integrity on their part, a charter that was due to be signed on 3rd October.
The contentious issue of the Scattered Islands (Iles Eparses) in the Indian Ocean became a feature of the election campaign in September, over possible petrol reserves as well as fish stocks (some 700kg were seized from Malagasy fishing boats within the French exclusion zone in the middle of the month). The matter was due to be raised again at the United Nations.
In late September the magazine Politika was barred from publishing the results of an opinion poll which the government had seen as a threat to public order; the poll was commissioned by Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Representatives of only 27 of the 36 candidates attended a meeting to launch a charter for good conduct and integrity on their part, a charter that was due to be signed on 3rd October.
The contentious issue of the Scattered Islands (Iles Eparses) in the Indian Ocean became a feature of the election campaign in September, over possible petrol reserves as well as fish stocks (some 700kg were seized from Malagasy fishing boats within the French exclusion zone in the middle of the month). The matter was due to be raised again at the United Nations.
Economic and social matters
Finance and aid
In July the IMF said it would release a further $44.25m of credit given progress in the country, although it called for further action to reduce corruption and an end to state support of the utility company JIRAMA. In its fourth review on its wider credit facility in September the IMF gave a broadly positive report which would allow the deployment of a further tranche of funding.
The World Bank has forecast that Madagascar’s economic growth will reach 5% in 2018 although the benefits will not be widely shared with only a gradual reduction in the incidence of poverty, which it calculated had moved to 73% from 78% five years ago.
In August China gave $30m for the construction of a spur road in Mahitsy, to the north of the capital and the centre of the country’s egg production.
At the Forum on China-African Co-operation in September Madagascar signed a series of memoranda of understanding for a number of projects including a new railway between Antananarivo and Fianarantsoa, the construction of a new port in the Antsiranana region, a tramway system in the capital and the modernisation of the airport at Toamasina. There was also an agreement for marine projects worth $2.7bn over ten years in fishing, shipyards and leisure centres.
The African Development Bank provided funding for a feasibility study at the port of Manakara, for which consultants applied in July.
By the end of September the ariary weakened to rate over 4,000 to the euro which was only a little over half of its level five years previously.
The World Bank has forecast that Madagascar’s economic growth will reach 5% in 2018 although the benefits will not be widely shared with only a gradual reduction in the incidence of poverty, which it calculated had moved to 73% from 78% five years ago.
In August China gave $30m for the construction of a spur road in Mahitsy, to the north of the capital and the centre of the country’s egg production.
At the Forum on China-African Co-operation in September Madagascar signed a series of memoranda of understanding for a number of projects including a new railway between Antananarivo and Fianarantsoa, the construction of a new port in the Antsiranana region, a tramway system in the capital and the modernisation of the airport at Toamasina. There was also an agreement for marine projects worth $2.7bn over ten years in fishing, shipyards and leisure centres.
The African Development Bank provided funding for a feasibility study at the port of Manakara, for which consultants applied in July.
By the end of September the ariary weakened to rate over 4,000 to the euro which was only a little over half of its level five years previously.
Health
The seasonal return of plague to the country in August claimed five lives by September. The health ministry said there was no epidemic and that there was nothing to fear; it had reported in July that in the outbreak in 2017 there had been 2,348 cases and 202 deaths between 1st August and 22nd November.
A study by the World Food Programme suggested that the impact of malnutrition, which affected 47% of children under five years of age, was a loss to the country equivalent to 14.5% of its GDP each year.
A study by the World Food Programme suggested that the impact of malnutrition, which affected 47% of children under five years of age, was a loss to the country equivalent to 14.5% of its GDP each year.
Education
A report by UNICEF in July indicated that 89% of Malagasy children had suffered from physical abuse at home, although 72% said they felt safe there, and one in two had suffered violence at school, which was seen as part of the educational process.
In September the education ministry announced a renewed national strategy for illiteracy intended to reduce the level in the country from an estimated 25%.
In September the education ministry announced a renewed national strategy for illiteracy intended to reduce the level in the country from an estimated 25%.
Agriculture
In September the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Harrisson Randriarimanana, said at the opening of an international agricultural fair in the capital that Madagascar had recorded its best rice output in 15 years with a harvest of 4.3m tons, up from 3.1m in 2017 and helped by better weather if still held back by an inadequate supply of quality seeds, farming equipment and fertilizer.
The 2018-2019 lychee harvest in Madagascar started well with 82% of the 1,488 trees in the Tamatave region in production, compared to just 35% the previous year, also helped by good weather.
The vanilla harvest which runs from July to September was expected to see export prices in a range of $380-560 per kg which compares to a peak of $635 in 2017.
The 2018-2019 lychee harvest in Madagascar started well with 82% of the 1,488 trees in the Tamatave region in production, compared to just 35% the previous year, also helped by good weather.
The vanilla harvest which runs from July to September was expected to see export prices in a range of $380-560 per kg which compares to a peak of $635 in 2017.
Report
In the 2018 United Nations Development Programme report Madagascar was ranked 161st out of 189 countries for human development, two places lower than the previous year although it saw a small improvement in the index level from 0.512 to 0.519. Norway and Switzerland topped the table while Niger was lowest.
Insecurity
In July the secretary of state for the Gendarmerie, Jean Christophe Randriarimanana, said that the high level of insecurity in Madagascar meant that the whole country was in effect a danger zone and not just those areas affected by attacks by bandits or dahalo, which continued to be frequent.
In July there were reports of attacks, summary justice, human trafficking, stealing of human remains and kidnapping; at the end of the month the security forces launched an operation in the capital which led to a number of arrests of those involved in the latter. Four employees of the state graphite company Kraoma were kidnapped in the Betsikoba region; the company paid a ransom of 100m ariary to secure their release and suspended operations. The president met them at the Iavolaha state house at the end of the week. An article in Paris Match covered the issue of kidnapping in the country and in particular the case of Yannick Ishmael, who in 2017 became the 90th known victim of the industry targeting those from the Indo-Pakistani business community.
The potential impact on tourism was in focus in August when in an armed attack on a village near the Ranomafana national park the bandits killed an employee of the Centre ValBio research centre, Jean Razafindraibe.
A US diplomat was found murdered in the capital in September while the Gendarmerie launched Operation Mandio to combat white-collar bandits, those who controlled the illegal acts. A report found that there had been 108 incidents of summary justice in two years, resulting in 152 deaths.
In July there were reports of attacks, summary justice, human trafficking, stealing of human remains and kidnapping; at the end of the month the security forces launched an operation in the capital which led to a number of arrests of those involved in the latter. Four employees of the state graphite company Kraoma were kidnapped in the Betsikoba region; the company paid a ransom of 100m ariary to secure their release and suspended operations. The president met them at the Iavolaha state house at the end of the week. An article in Paris Match covered the issue of kidnapping in the country and in particular the case of Yannick Ishmael, who in 2017 became the 90th known victim of the industry targeting those from the Indo-Pakistani business community.
The potential impact on tourism was in focus in August when in an armed attack on a village near the Ranomafana national park the bandits killed an employee of the Centre ValBio research centre, Jean Razafindraibe.
A US diplomat was found murdered in the capital in September while the Gendarmerie launched Operation Mandio to combat white-collar bandits, those who controlled the illegal acts. A report found that there had been 108 incidents of summary justice in two years, resulting in 152 deaths.
Tourism
The CEO of Air Madagascar, Rolland Razafimaharo, said in September that the partnership with Air Austral had started well and that the firm was investing in a new subsidiary Tsaradia, launched in July with a fleet of four ATR 72s and three Twin Otters. The airline launched a new route in September from Fort Dauphin to Reunion via Toliara. In September the state agreed the payment of $80m of debt to help the restructuring of the airline.
Minerals
In early July Lemur Resources, a subsidiary of Bushveld Resources, obtained a thirty-year concession to operate the Imaloto coal project, separate to its vanadium one.
The government announced in July that the operators of the Ambatovy nickel and cobalt mine would pay some 49bn ariary to communities impacted by its operations in 2012-17; a fifth of the sum was to be released immediately. In the same month farmers who were due compensation from the operators of the QMM ilmenite mine said they had only received a small proportion of their entitlement. In September the Andrew Lees Trust reported that the mine had breached agreed limits for pollution and exposed the local population to high levels of risk; there was a report in The Ecologist.
In September Madagascar Oil was reported to be moving to start production of heavy oil at a rate of 4,000 barrels a day; the company had suspended operations following the collapse in the Price of oil from 2014. In September the agency OMNIS announced that a new licencing round would be launched during Africa Oil Week in early November, to cover 44 offshore blocks in the Morondava basin.
The government announced in July that the operators of the Ambatovy nickel and cobalt mine would pay some 49bn ariary to communities impacted by its operations in 2012-17; a fifth of the sum was to be released immediately. In the same month farmers who were due compensation from the operators of the QMM ilmenite mine said they had only received a small proportion of their entitlement. In September the Andrew Lees Trust reported that the mine had breached agreed limits for pollution and exposed the local population to high levels of risk; there was a report in The Ecologist.
In September Madagascar Oil was reported to be moving to start production of heavy oil at a rate of 4,000 barrels a day; the company had suspended operations following the collapse in the Price of oil from 2014. In September the agency OMNIS announced that a new licencing round would be launched during Africa Oil Week in early November, to cover 44 offshore blocks in the Morondava basin.
Wildlife and conservation
Forests and protected areas
In July a new body was created to deal with cases of trafficking or illegal stocking of precious wood, with a mandate to conclude prosecutions within six months (most existing claims have yet to come to court) and with the power to pass sentences of 10-20 years of forced labour as well as fines of 50-100m ariary.
A study by scientists including Dr Julia Jones at the University of Bangor and Dr Sarobidy Rakotonarivo at the University of Stirling found that the pressures to meet climate change prevention programmes in countries such as Madagascar was harming farming communities who were not receiving proper compensation, The report was published in the journal PeerJ and there is an article in The Independent.
A study by scientists including Dr Julia Jones at the University of Bangor and Dr Sarobidy Rakotonarivo at the University of Stirling found that the pressures to meet climate change prevention programmes in countries such as Madagascar was harming farming communities who were not receiving proper compensation, The report was published in the journal PeerJ and there is an article in The Independent.
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In September Transparency International and the NGO Alliance Voahary Gasy criticised a number of proposals on the audit and sale of confiscated stocks of precious woods, including an amnesty for some involved, ahead of the meeting of the permanent committee of CITES in Russia in early October. There are details (in French) on the Transparency Madagascar website.
A report by the Ministry of the Environment, Ecology and Forests estimated from a survey of 155 forests in Madagascar that 80% of them had been destroyed, in part or in full. The use of wood for fuel was judged the cause of 90% of the destruction, given that an estimated 70% of the population still used charcoal, while migration was also a factor. |
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Species
A report by a team led by James Hansford of the Zoological Society of London and published in ScienceAdvances indicated that humans might have lived on Madagascar over 10,500 years ago. This would be much longer by 6,000 years than currently evidenced and was based on an analysis of the bones of the Aepyornis and Mullerornis birds which showed signs such as cut marks of immobilisation and dismemberment.