Madagascar Celebrates Independence 26 June 2023
By Joy Osiagwu
Madagascar, with its capital in Antananarivo, is the fourth-largest island nation in the world. Situated off the southeast coast of Africa, it is also the 46th largest country in the world. The official languages of Madagascar are Malagasy and French. The country also has a strategic location along Mozambique.
Madagascar’s economy is agricultural and has a wealth of natural resources ranging from semiprecious stones, hydropower, granite, chromite, bauxite, salt quartz, tar sands, and fish. It also has a tourism industry because of its lush rain forests and temperate inland biodiversity conservation due to its unique species and unique plants.
But despite these resources, the country is dependent on foreign aid. Furthermore, the nation has suffered from natural disasters such as cyclones which further contributed to its status as one of the world’s poorest countries.
Since attaining Independence from France in 1960, the country with a population of 28.92 million has been through political instability, coups, and disputed elections.
Philibert Tsiranana was the first president of Malagasy which is now known as the Republic of Madagascar.
The coup in 2009 resulted in a five-year political deadlock which witnessed international condemnation and economic sanctions. Andry Nirina Rajoelina became the head of a provincial government from 2009-2014 following political upheaval.
Current Governance Structure
The government operates a semi-presidential representative democratic republic with the President as the head of state while the Prime Minister is the head of government.
President Andry Nirina Rajoelina, the current leader assumed duty in 2019. The prime minister is Christian Ntsay, a Malagasy politician appointed by President Hery Raiaonarimampiania shortly after Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana resigned.
Madagascar is a member of the African Union, the international organization of Francophonie, the Southern African Development Community, and the Indian Ocean Commission.
Trending News
The President of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, has been declared the winner of the Babacar Ndiaye Trophy, as a result of his dedication to infrastructure development in the island state. Rajoelina, who succeeds Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu, the award winner in 2022 accepted his trophy on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank Group in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on Friday, 26 May 2023.
In a press release by the committee responsible for the final results, Rajoelina was chosen at a meeting held in Dakar in April 2023 “for his personal leadership, commitment, and investment to provide Madagascar with mobility infrastructure”, a major component of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Some of the worthy examples cited by the committee include but are not limited to the construction of a highway encircling the capital Antananarivo with pedestrian and cycling lanes alongside the roadways, the expansion of the Larivo airport, and the structure of the ring road. The Malagasy leader also extended transportation connectivity to the rural areas.
The Babacar Ndiaye Trophy is sponsored by the African Development Bank Group (ADB), while the prize is awarded by Acturoutes; providers of information on Africa’s infrastructure and road network in alliance with the organization Media for Infrastructure and Finance in Africa (MIFA), a network of watchdogs with an eye for road infrastructural development on the African continent.
Madagascar Ottawa Connection.
Did you know that the first Black person to live in what is now Canada was Olivier Le Jeune, an enslaved person from Madagascar who arrived in Quebec in 1628 at the age of 7, living permanently? Olivier Le Jeune was designated as a national historical person in 2022 by the government of Canada.
According to the Historical Society of Ottawa, Ontario is now home to 52% of Canada’s Black population (627,715), 4.7% of the province’s total population.
Canada and Madagascar enjoy positive bilateral relations, especially in common membership in La Francophonie and the United Nations.
The Embassy of Madagascar to Canada is located at 3 Raymond St, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 1A3. The staff can also be reached at 613 567-0505. Visit the website to get more information about their activities: http://www.madagascar-embassy.ca/en