Rice imports worry local producers
Rice imports to Madagascar have tripled in one year. This sharp increase worries national producers. Essential due to the current inability of Malagasy rice farmers to meet the needs of the population, outside purchases, often tax-free to put them within the reach of low-credit consumers, further weaken local agriculture. A study was launched in September by a government agency, to measure the impact of imports. Its conclusions could lead to the establishment of additional customs duties or quotas on rice purchased on the world market..
The tourists return
In the first half of 2026, the Big Island welcomed a little more than 150,000 foreign tourists. Compared to the same period of 2025, the increase is certainly very slight but it is reassuring, for professionals in the sector as well as for the authorities responsible for promoting the destination. The political crisis of September-October 2025 had in fact caused numerous cancellations of stays and put a stop to reservations. Attendance for the first six months of the year shows that the trend has been stopped.
The Malagasy Ministry of Tourism is targeting 400,000 external visitors throughout 2026.
The State wants to control oil supplies
In the hope of better controlling fuel prices – a highly sensitive subject on the Big Island as elsewhere –, the Malagasy state seeks to regain control over hydrocarbon imports. Since last August, la SPM (State Procurement of Madagascar), company in charge of importing rice, also has the mission of purchasing fuels on the international market, alongside the four distributors present in the country. Eventually, within a time frame which has not been specified, SPM will become the only authorized importer from which distributors must obtain supplies.
The Madagascar Oil Group, which brings together importers and private distributors, is worried about this partial nationalization. Oil companies are particularly wondering about the capacity of the SPM, new to the industry, to negotiate prices while obtaining products with the quality guarantees required for the different uses of fuels.
The port of Majunga rehabilitated
Reinforcement and equipment of docks, redevelopment of medians, installation of surveillance cameras… Rehabilitation of the Majunga port, financed to the tune of 10 million dollars by the World Bank, was completed in August after 15 months of work. A second phase of work, amounting to $30 million, is being assembled. After Tamatave and Diégo-Suarez, the northwestern Malagasy city is home to the country's third port with traffic estimated at more than 400,000 tonnes of goods. However, it suffers from the silting of the mouth of the Betsiboka, the river on which it was built.
Expulsion of Chinese convicted of online scams
Linked to the US FBI, Malagasy authorities dismantled 13 online scam centers, based in the country and operated by Chinese nationals to extort money or personal data from Internet users of many nationalities.
Over the past few months, 160 Chinese were arrested and sentenced to two to ten years in prison. Widely publicized, their transfer to China to serve their sentences was organized in September, in several waves.
French remains official language, with Malagasy
The official languages of Madagascar are Malagasy and French., indicates an article of the country's Constitution. The High Constitutional Court of the Big Island recalled this in a recent decision, invalidating a provision voted at the beginning of July and imposing an obligation to use the Malagasy language “in education, training and in relations between citizens as well as state communications ».
