ICTs: Madagascar, a connected island

Madagascar is now in the era of very high-speed thanks to two great providers at an international level. With an extandable capacity of 8.3 Gbps and over 10,000 km length, the submarine fiber-optic cable EASSy (East Africa Submarine System) currently links the great island to East Africa, Indian Ocean and the rest of the world. Comprising 2 segments, LION (Lower Indian Ocean Network) first links Mauritius to La Réunion then La Réunion to Madagascar with a long cable of more than 1,000 km and a capacity reaching 2.3 Gbps. Mauritius and La Réunion are the linkage points to the SAT3/WASC/SAFE cable linking itself Europe to Asia, by going through the southern part of Africa. A third cable called FLY will be soon established in the North West and will secure at the same time EASSy and LION by linking Moroni, Mahajanga and Mayotte.

EASSy and LION end up respectively at Toliary and at Toamasina and are connected with the national Backbone infrastructure serving major big cities. The backbone is made up of 4,000 km-fiber-optic reinforced by 14,000 km of microwave links. The island coverage in broadband goes on in order to reach the most remote areas.

Thanks to these modern infrastructures and the availability of a very cheap, proficient and easily trainable labor force, Madagascar is a prime destination for activities in ICT sector. Low penetration rates for telephony (44%) and internet (2%) confirm that the local market is still in demand.

The Law No. 2005-023 of 15th October, 2005 provides a legal framework liberalizing the sector and establishing 3 systems: Licence, Declaration and Free. The country commits itself to set up a more and more attractive regulatory and tax context (advantage of offshore companies, status as free-zone companies, …) to ensure the good development of the ICT sector. Any local or foreign operator willing to invest in Madagascar can do so in many different state-of-the-art activities, namely::

Technology parks;
Manufacturing and assembly factories of electronic components;
Assembly units of computer and telecommunication devices;
Development structures of high added value mobile applications;
Integration structures of high-tech solutions;
Teleservice companies (call center, telemarketing, teletyping, …);
Consulting companies which are subsidiaries of world leading multinationals;
Certified training center on technologies and international standards in terms of application development, information system audit, security audit, project management, …

Legal framework

• Loi N°2005-023 du 17 octobre 2005 portant refonte de la Loi N°96-034 du 27 janvier 1997 portant Réforme institutionnelle du secteur des Télécommunications

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