The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a US $67.3mn loan to Madagascar to help the island nation revive its economy over the next year.
- AfDB’s Board’s resolution on 20th September means Antananarivo will receive the loan for its Financial Management and Resilience Support Program, which runs until the end of 2025.
- Among other things, the program plans to support the roll-out of the Intergrated Tax Administration System (SAFI) “to modernize tax management, computerize tax operations, facilitate local revenue collection and taxpayer management, and combat tax fraud.”
- The program will also support an action plan by Madagascar’s public corporation for electricity and water services, known as JIRAMA, to be less reliant on state support.
“The programme aims to contribute to the creation of favourable conditions for strong and inclusive economic growth by strengthening economic and financial governance, and improving economic resilience,” said Adam Amoumoun, manager of the AfDB’s Country Office in Madagascar.
The program also intends to improve the country’s regulatory framework to promote “investments and the development of public-private partnership (PPP) projects and better sectoral governance, specifically in energy. This will help improve the business environment and attract investments to sectors that create jobs,” the AfDB said in a statement.
In AfDB’s Economic Outlook for 2024, the multilateral regional lender projects that Madagascar, the world’s fourth largest island of nearly 30 million people by 2022, will experience “vigorous economic activity”, with expected growth at 4.5 percent this year, and 5.3 percent in 2025.
By the end of July, the AfDB’s active portfolio in the country comprised 18 operations amounting to US$ 1.16 billion.
