Summary
As the year draws to a close, this article answers that question by first mentioning a sample of events that occurred during the month of December, which suggest a return to past alliances and methods, even though it had been agreed to promote a Refoundation. With the situation in Nosy Mitsio remaining tense and worrying, the article then shares key information about the violation of the land rights of the island’s inhabitants for more than five years due to tourism projects. The article concludes with a proposal based on a vision and methods that will benefit the country and local communities in Madagascar more by promoting community-based tourism.
Many worrying events marked national life in December 2025.
A large ship resembling the yachts from the United Arab Emirates, which had often stayed in Nosy Be during Rajoelina’s presidency, docked there again. Several people raised a question that remained unanswered: was the coincidence of this event with the visit of the Minister of Land Use Planning and Land Affairs to Nosy Be and its surroundings on 8 December 2025 a mere coincidence or was there a specific reason for it?
A few days later, it was reported that the new President, Colonel Michael Randrianirina, had travelled to Dubai.
The main fear expressed by many citizens was a return to restrictions on democratic space following the announcement that the President of the Refoundation of the Republic had discussed ‘security’ with the Israelis, given what the latter have done in this context in various countries. The feared consequences in the land and agricultural sectors, already mentioned above (1), are also of considerable importance.
Shortly after this trip abroad, alarming news caused widespread consternation: the agreement reached between the leaders of Refoundation of the Republic and the Americans concerning the Base Toliara mining project. The change of name to Vara Mada does not alter the dangers that this mineralised sand extraction project led by Energy Fuels will cause: expropriation and expulsion of local populations, water shortages, increased radioactivity that will harm the environment, biodiversity and public health (2). The population is opposed to it.
Negotiations on energy are said to have taken place in Dubai with the Emiratis, but organisations and citizens vigilant about the risks of land grabbing in Madagascar have not forgotten the existence of ‘the implementation of an International Tourist Free Zone, in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates’ revealed by the Council of Ministers of the previous regime on 19 March 2025. What will be the outcome of this initiative, which will inevitably reduce national sovereignty and tax revenues for the already highly problematic State budget?
The issues and decisions that had caused concern and rejection under the previous leadership team are reappearing and being confirmed. This is truly worrying.
No information has been leaked to date regarding possible discussions between the Malagasy authorities and American investors about Nosy Sakatia. Last November, a group of stakeholders travelled to Nosy Be to conduct an in-depth investigation into the island’s problems and discreetly hinted that an American company might be interested in the Nosy Sakatia tourist land reserve (TLR). Their local interlocutors politely informed them that they were not looking for investors.
Furthermore, as protecting the land of the inhabitants of the small islands in northern Madagascar remains a crucial issue as we approach the end of 2025, we are continuing to reflect on this subject.
The inhabitants of Nosy Mitsio are still very concerned about their land and their future.
The island of Nosy Mitsio has been coveted by investors for years, so its inhabitants live in fear.
We have already shared that after a meeting with the Minister of Land Use Planning in Antananarivo on 26 November 2025, representatives of the island’s inhabitants were stunned to learn that a land lease agreement had been signed by the previous regime in 2023. As a result, the inhabitants would not receive any title deeds, a ministry official said, until the contract was cancelled. The details of this ‘lease’ have not been disclosed and remain hidden. Another authority later learned that 104 hectares of land in the northern part of the island had been leased. Given that Nosy Mitsio covers 2,000 hectares, one might wonder whether there are other secret agreements concerning the island. Indeed, the idea that the lease of 104 hectares in the north prevents the allocation of land titles to inhabitants of other areas of the island until this ‘contract’ is cancelled is unconvincing.
We therefore call on the authorities to disclose all contracts and projects concerning Nosy Mitsio to the local community and all Malagasies in a transparent manner in order to put an end to the concerns and anxiety of the island’s inhabitants, which have been going on for too long.
Let us briefly recap the history of the problems in Nosy Mitsio: – In 2019, the authorities suspended the possibility for residents to carry out any procedures to obtain land titles; – Then the Minister of Land Use Planning explained, in a letter dated 20 December 2020, that a clean-up operation was necessary in Nosy Mitsio (3); – A foreign company, established in Madagascar for a long time, had leased land north of Nosy Mitsio before 2019, and irregularities were reportedly found; – In 2020, the Swiss company MGB Development began misleading the inhabitants of Nosy Mitsio about a tourism development project, but this did not come to fruition (4).
– In June 2022, President Rajoelina announced that Nosy Mitsio was one of the sites selected for the construction of a 5-star hotel; – In December 2024, foreign journalists reported that an Emirati investor had come to Nosy Be and would sign a ‘deal’ with Andry Rajoelina concerning Nosy Mitsio before leaving (5). – Several civil society organisations wrote to President Rajoelina and the investor asking for details of this ‘deal’ (6), but they did not respond. – While rumours were circulating about the signing of an agreement between the Malagasy and Emirati leaders concerning the island of Mitsio, on 8 February 2025, the gendarmerie arrested a leader of a civil society organisation in Ambilobe and five residents of Nosy Mitsio for spreading false information; – The six defendants were acquitted on the basis of reasonable doubt at their trial on 6 March, after one of them had been held in police custody for a week. – On 19 March 2025, the Council of Ministers announced that the Malagasy government would proceed with the implementation of an International Tourist Free Zone in partnership with the United Arab Emirates (3).
It is clear that tourism projects have infringed upon the land rights of local communities over the years in many places, such as Nosy Sakatia and Nosy Mitsio. Lessons must therefore be learned during this period of « re-foundation ».
Proposals aimed at enabling Malagasy to benefit more from the tourism sector
The ‘Assises nationales’ – national meetings – that followed the regional meetings on tourism – held on 18 and 19 December came as a surprise and caused confusion (7). Even some Ministry officials did not seem to be expecting them, as invitations to the regional meetings were sent out the day before the consultation (8). Was there an urgent agenda, coming from Dubai or elsewhere, that could not wait for all the consultations to be completed?
We hope that further consultations on tourism will be held later, but we prefer to start sharing now the proposals considered most favourable to the development of the population and the country: Malagasy and local populations should have complete freedom to engage in independent tourism ventures, rather than just foreigners and wealthy Madagascans, as conceived and implemented by the World Bank’s PIC project when establishing the Tourist Land Reserves (RFT) in Nosy Be and its surroundings.
In other words, this period of REFOUNDING is the right time to ask the question: ‘Who will benefit from tourism in Madagascar?’, in order to study and implement ways in which the tourism sector will benefit the Malagasy people and the country.
When we look at the tourism value chain, we see that it includes transport, accommodation, visits to various sites and the purchase of souvenirs. Airfare to Madagascar is the largest expense. Since the disappearance of Air Madagascar, all airlines belong to foreign countries. As a result, it is these countries that benefit most from the presence of tourists from outside Madagascar. When it comes to accommodation, we should not limit ourselves to 5-star hotels (9), but also offer ‘homestay’ accommodation, an option that is very popular with foreign tourists. This accommodation can be organised at the level of each host family or in a more organised manner. Many Malagasies living in Madagascar or abroad have had the opportunity to travel to different countries and have already considered the development of community-based tourism in Madagascar, particularly in places such as Nosy Sakatia and Nosy Mitsio.
This proposal will undoubtedly spark debate among those who are accustomed to reaping all the benefits and their supporters, but it is better to move forward because what is at stake is the development of the entire Malagasy people and the country. It is essential to change the vision and practices that offer excessive advantages to wealthy local and foreign investors and threaten to drive Malagasy communities off their land.
Let us hope that more in-depth discussions will continue in 2026 with those already involved in ‘community-based tourism’ in Madagascar and abroad.
23 December 2025
Collectif pour la défense des terres malgaches – TANY
patrimoine.malagasy@gmail.com ; http://terresmalgaches.info ; Facebook : TANYterresmalgaches ;
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Références
(2) https://www.lexpress.mg/2025/12/projet-minier-base-toliara-bascule-en.html
(7) https://new.moov.mg/actualite/110273-assises-nationales-madagascar-repense-son-tourisme#body2
(8) https://www.facebook.com/share/16m2uWFnLu/
(9) https://www.lexpress.mg/2025/12/developpement-un-accent-sur-le-tourisme.html