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Madagascar

Digital snapshot – key policies and laws

Madagascar’s digital governance agenda is anchored in the PRODIGY programme, backed by World Bank financing, and focuses on modernising civil registration and national identification to expand legal identity and improve access to public services. The programme gives the country’s digital transformation a practical centre of gravity: identity, interoperability and service delivery. The broader policy frame is the Plan Stratégique du Numérique 2024–2028, while the 2025 interoperability decree gives institutional form to data exchange across public systems.

New constellation over the big island

Madagascar’s satellite-broadband map changed in 2024, when telecom regulator ARTEC granted Starlink Madagascar a licence to install and operate high-speed, low-latency internet services nationwide. Local reporting said the licence allowed Starlink to commercialise its services in the country, while Ecofin reported the commercial launch on 27 June 2024. The move matters because Madagascar already has strong international fibre links, including EASSy, LION/LION2, METISS and 2Africa, connected to a domestic fibre network, but many communities remain beyond affordable and reliable broadband reach. Satellite connectivity does not erase the deeper barriers of price, electricity, devices, repair capacity and digital skills; it adds another route where terrestrial networks are slow or costly to deploy. For remote clinics, schools, local administrations, tourism operators and small businesses, this creates a practical alternative rather than a universal fix.

The legal safeguards around digitalisation are becoming more visible, but remain a work in progress. Madagascar has a personal data protection law, Law n°2014-038, and the Commission Malagasy de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CMIL) has recently moved from a largely formal institution to an operational regulator. Its effective establishment marks a new phase for data protection, digital sovereignty and rights, at a time when digital ID, health data, public-service platforms and future AI tools will test whether privacy, security and redress are enforceable in practice.

Cybersecurity is now catching up with the scale of the country’s digital ambitions. Madagascar still relies heavily on the 2014 cybercrime framework, but in December 2025, the government launched work on a national cybersecurity strategy to address cyber threats, child protection online, gender-based cyber violence, digital justice, skills and critical infrastructure protection. In parallel, a proposed social-media law to address harassment, defamation and disinformation places online safety in a sensitive balance with freedom of expression and civic participation.

Madagascar’s digital economy is being promoted through connectivity, e-commerce, mobile money, cloud services and skills. The Choose Digital Madagascar initiative, launched in 2025, aims to attract investment, structure the digital ecosystem and promote Malagasy talent, including through the Excelia quality label for digital training and services. E-commerce and digital payments rest on older but relevant frameworks, including the electronic transactions law and the electronic-money law, while cloud and data-centre development remain early-stage and closely tied to telecom infrastructure, public-sector digitalisation and BPO demand.

Regarding AI governance, Madagascar has no dedicated AI law, national AI strategy or AI regulator, but it has started positioning itself around AI capacity-building. Plans for an International Institute of Applied Artificial Intelligence for the Indian Ocean region, announced in 2024, align with the PSN 2023–2028 and the country’s shortage of digital technicians. For now, AI is governed indirectly through data protection, cybercrime, digital identity, e-transactions and sectoral policies.

Madagascar’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva:

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Madagascar to the UN Office and specialised institutions in Geneva represents Madagascar in Geneva-based multilateral diplomacy. Madagascar’s office is located at Avenue Riant-Parc 38, 1209 Geneva, with phone: +41 22 740 16 50, fax: +41 22 740 16 16, and email: ambamadsuisse@bluewin.ch.

Official UNOG website: https://www.ungeneva.org/en/blue-book/missions/member-states/madagascar

EMBASSY AND PERMANENT MISSION TO THE UN – GEN

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