Madagascar Development

On December 21, 2005 the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) established the list of countries that qualify for debt relief from the Fund under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). Debt relief delivery, which could start as soon as January 3, 2005, is now conditional on getting the consents of all the contributors to the Subsidy Account of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) Trust, whose contributions help finance the Initiative. The MDRI will deliver debt relief from the Fund to qualifying members countries with an annual per capita income at or below US$380, and to countries above the threshold that have reached the completion point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The implementation of the MDRI will reduce the external debt burden of a number of the world's poorest countries and will provide additional resources to help them reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Background The Executive Board appro

The Indian Ocean Islands of the Comoros and Madagascar are to receive Euro 1.1 million (US $1.3 million) in relief aid from the European Union (EU). EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, said in a statement that "millions of vulnerable people in Africa are exposed to natural disasters like droughts, floods and insect infestations as well as armed conflicts" that rarely made headlines in the western media. He added that these "silent tsunamis ... still lead to great suffering". Comoros will be allocated Euro 600,000 ($711,000) to help restore access to safe drinking water for an estimated 175,000 people. The emergency humanitarian aid will be used for the cleaning and rehabilitation of village water tanks that were polluted by ash and debris following the Karthala volcano eruption on 24 November. Madagascar will receive Euro 500,000 ($600,000) to aid about 150,000 people suffering severe malnutrition in the southern Vangaindrano district

The European Union has announced a $195 million humanitarian aid package for 10 African nations, including Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel says millions of Africans remain vulnerable to "silent tsunamis" such as droughts, floods and armed conflicts. Nearly $57 million has been earmarked to help displaced persons return to Sudan's violence-plagued Darfur region, while $45 million will be spent to improve health care for women and children in the war weary Congo. The rest of the money will fund aid efforts in Uganda, Burundi, Comoros, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Chad and Tanzania. The money will be funneled through several humanitarian aid organizations, including the United Nations and Red Cross.

The International Monetary Fund's executive board on Wednesday agreed to write off $3.3 billion owed to it by 19 of the world's poorest countries but delayed forgiving Mauritania's debt. "This is an historic moment, which will allow these countries to increase spending in priority areas to reduce poverty, promote growth," IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato said after the two-hour board meeting. Development activists welcomed the debt relief and said they were pleased the deal, struck by the Group of Eight rich nations in July with much fanfare, was not narrowed by the IMF board as drastically as some had feared. An internal IMF staff memo, dated Dec. 8 and obtained by Reuters this week, had recommended the board delay debt relief to six nations -- Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Rwanda and Senegal -- until macroeconomic and government accounting problems were addressed. A group of Capitol Hill lawmakers wrote to the IMF and U.S. Treasury urging full d

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday agreed to cancel $3,3-billion owed by 19 of the world's poorest countries, after reports that it was back-tracking on the debt-relief plan sparked an outcry. The IMF, which had previously said it wanted one last "spot check" of the nations' economic policies, said its board has now approved them for relief under a global debt-cancellation plan unveiled by the Group of Eight (G8) powers. "We are on track to deliver 100% debt relief within the coming weeks to 19 of the 20 countries," IMF spokesperson Thomas Dawson told reporters after a two-hour board meeting chaired by MD Rodrigo Rato. The G8 powers in July announced their plan to cancel the debts of 18 of the world's poorest countries owed to the World Bank, the IMF and the African Development Bank. The IMF added two countries to the G8 list -- Cambodia and Tajikistan -- but dropped one, Mauritania. Dawson said the IMF hopes to qualify Mauritania in the

Today, President Bush determined the following 37 countries as eligible for economic and trade benefits under African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Angola; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Chad; Republic of Congo; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Ethiopia; Gabon; The Gambia; Ghana, Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Uganda; and Zambia. This year, the President designated Burundi as an AGOA beneficiary country and removed Mauritania from the list of eligible countries. As required by the legislation, this annual determination provides benefits to those countries that are making continued progress toward a market-based economy, the rule of law, free trade, economic policies that will reduce poverty, and protection of workers' rights. By providing countries greater

Six of the world's poorest countries face the prospect of being left out of a much-hyped Group of Eight (G8) debt forgiveness plan when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board meets to implement the deal. In an IMF memo to board members obtained by Reuters, the global lender's staff recommended the debts of Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Rwanda and Senegal not be written off until they take steps to fix macroeconomic and government spending management problems. The memo said these six countries "will qualify for (Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative) relief when the board determines that the identified remedial actions have been taken, and that a satisfactory performance has been maintained with respect to the other qualification criteria". The IMF board is expected to make a statement on the issue after its meeting on Friday. The Group of Eight club of rich nations - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia - agree

Six of the eighteen countries promised a 'historic' debt deal could have their hopes dashed by the International Monetary Fund at its board meeting on Wednesday December 21, Oxfam has learned. In July the G8 announced total cancellation of all the eighteen countries' debts to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the African Development Fund. The IMF is now set to take up to six countries off this list and only approve countries that pass its own further, strict economic policy tests. Strong information obtained from a number of sources before the meetings show that debt relief is in jeopardy for six of the 18: Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Senegal and Rwanda. The IMF argues that, as some countries completed the initiative some years ago, a further spot-check is now required. Max Lawson, Policy Advisor at Oxfam, said that: "This means millions of dollars that these countries could spend on schools and hospitals will now be delayed unt

Madagascar may have diamond deposits to be exploited, based on research collected by mining experts on the Indian Ocean island, Canadian mineral explorer Pan-African Mining (PAF.V: Quote) has said. "The signs collected during the investigations of the department of mines as well as by the French Bureau of Geology and Mining Research are promising" Pan-African Mining (PAM) General Manager Fafah Ramboasalama told journalists on Monday. The explorers theorise that Madagascar is the immediate neighbor of South Africa and therefore is likely to share similar geology, he said. "So there is no reason (why) Madagascar does not contain any important diamond ores like South Africa." Ramboasalama said PAM is investing $4 million in research into the existence of diamond deposits and would invest more in exploration and production if the potential of deposits warrants. Mining experts say Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, is thought to have large under-exploited

The Economic Commission for Africa's (ECA) "Economic Report on Africa 2005" launched here yesterday shows that Ethiopia attained a GDP growth required to achieve the Millennium Development Goal to halve poverty by 2015. The new report shows also that despite record economic growth in Africa, poverty is actually getting worse. The report entitled: "Meeting the Challenges of Unemployment and Poverty in Africa", lists Ethiopia among five other countries as having successfully achieved beyond the 7 per cent minimum GDP growth requisite in 2004. The report shows that Ethiopia registered an 11.6 per cent GDP growth in the year 2004 while most African countries failed to meet the 7 per cent or more required to achieve the Millennium Development Goal I. The other five countries listed alongside Ethiopia are Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Angola and Mozambique. It indicates that 12 African countries had reached their HIPC completion point by the end of 2004 and qual

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's nice to be back here at the State Department. I'm glad to be with my friend, Condi Rice, who's doing a fabulous job as our Secretary of State. (Applause.) It's also good to be here with the Board and staff of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. And I'm proud to be here to congratulate the new Chief Executive Officer, Ambassador John Danilovich. This is a vital part for our country and for my administration. And that's why I've come. The MCC is an integral part of our strategy to fight poverty and to encourage economic development. And leading this organization requires a combination of idealism and managerial skill and diplomatic savvy and economic expertise. John Danilovich has those qualities -- that's why I picked him and that's why he's going to be a great executive leading this important corporation. I'm also proud to be standing up here with Irene; and I'm glad to be

"At $287.50 per ton for 1.8 million tons of rice import this year, the country is spending P27 billion to P28 billion. And NFA (National Food Authority (NFA) is losing P10 billion to P11 billion in this program. Why don’t we take the solution of investing in a rice program similar to what others did?" Henry Lim Bon Liong, hybrid rice seed producer SL Agritech Corp. (SLAC), in an interview. The NFA normally buys rice at a higher cost specially when it has to support farmers’ price during heavy harvests when price is collapsing. Despite higher price purchase, it has to sell rice at a low, affordable price particularly in depressed areas in order to support government’s social program, thereby losing substantially in subsidy. If the Philippines is able to produce hybrid rice on at least 600,000 hectares, Lim said the country can be self-sufficient assuming an average of additional four metric tons (MT) per hectare is achieved which will produce an additional 2.4 million MT or 1.

U.S. lawmakers on Monday urged the International Monetary Fund to erase the debts of 18 poor countries, as mandated by the Group of Eight nations, while aid groups warned the deal may be under threat. Six members of the House of Representatives Financial Services and International Relations panels, including Iowa Republican James Leach and California Democrat Maxine Waters, wrote to IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato urging the fund to cancel the debts "without further delays or conditions." "We are deeply concerned that the IMF is now back-tracking on this commitment," they said in the letter, a copy of which was also sent to U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow. Development activists and aid groups have warned that debt forgiveness pledged to 18 of the world's poorest nations may not emerge from an IMF board meeting on Wednesday in the form envisioned at a G8 leaders' summit in Scotland this summer. Oxfam and Jubilee USA said six nations -- Ethiopia,

Mr. Brian Ames, Mission Chief for Madagascar at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement today at the conclusion of discussions between a visiting IMF mission and the Republic of Madagascar's Minister of Finance and Budget, Benjamin Radavidson, and Governor of Central Bank of Madagascar, Gaston Ravelojaona: "Over the past week, I held very constructive discussions with Minister Radavidson, Governor Ravelojaona, and other senior officials of the Government of the Republic of Madagascar. These discussions followed on the meeting last month in Washington between Minister Radavidson and IMF First Deputy Managing Director, Ms. Anne O. Krueger. The purpose of the visit was to review recent developments and to reach understandings on the macroeconomic framework and set of policy measures that could underpin the authorities' economic program for 2006-08 and which could be supported under the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF).1"

Debt-relief campaigners complained that some of the world's poorest countries could be left waiting indefinitely for much-needed funds under a plan by the IMF to carry out another review of economic policies. ADVERTISEMENT The Jubilee campaign group said at least six countries already promised cancellation of their debts by the International Monetary Fund will be kept waiting because of further checks demanded by the IMF. Jubilee USA coordinator Debi Kar identified the six as Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Rwanda and Senegal. "We're really concerned about this as that's fully one-third of the countries that the G8 had promised would get debt relief immediately," Kar told AFP. "Our big concern is if they don't receive the debt cancellation as promised on January 1, when will they receive it? They've already had to wait years." IMF directors are due to meet on December 21 to discuss how to proceed with a plan, first conceived b

Madagascar Prime Minister Jacques Sylla met the delegation led by Li Ying, the vice governor of China's Gansu Province, on Thursday in ANTANANARIVO. The delegation arrived here Wednesday to attend the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of medical cooperation between China and Madagascar. Sylla highly praised the work done by the Chinese medical team from Gansu Province, saying the team has made significant contributions to the development of Madagascar's health sector.

Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana who is in Singapore for a working visit, called on Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong at the Istana on Thursday afternoon. Mr Goh's press secretary said President Ravalomanana shared with Mr Goh Madagascar's developmental plans. They also discussed how both countries could cooperate in helping Madagascar develop its human resources and advance its urban development and economic development plans. Earlier this week, the Madagascar leader also held talks with President SR Nathan and Prime MInister Lee Hsien Loong. By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

The enthusiasm for learning French in Tanzania is not in doubt. In Dar es Salaam the Alliance Francaise runs 4 courses of lessons annually, each of which is attended by between 350 and 400 students. In addition, lessons are given outside the Alliance, for example at companies such as TOTAL and KLM, and in schools like IST and the International School of Science. French forms part of the syllabus in the national educational system. The big problem contending with all these favourable factors is a lack of trained teachers. For Tanzania as a nation, the importance of French is undeniable also. Of the neighbouring countries, several are French-speaking: the DRC (Congo), Rwanda and Burundi on the one side, and the Comora Islands, Mauritius, Reunion, the Seychelles, and Madagascar on the other, in the ocean. When one considers the important political role that Tanzania plays in the region, especially concerning questions of international security one can recognize the importance of being abl

On November 7, 2005 the Executive Board of the IMF reached consensus on the implementation modalities in the Fund of the proposal for debt relief initially advanced by the G-8, and decided to call it the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). The MDRI will provide debt relief to member countries with an annual per capita income at or below $380, and to Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) above that threshold, with respect to the stock of their debt to the Fund (including to the Fund as Trustee) disbursed as of end-2004 that remains outstanding when the country qualifies for debt relief. The Board approved the requisite decisions to implement the MDRI on November 23, 2005. The delivery of MDRI relief now hinges on the consent of the 43 members that have made contributions to the Subsidy Account of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) Trust, whose consents are needed to make the MDRI operational, and on separate Board decisions confirming the qualification of eligibl

The International Monetary Fund said yesterday it had approved a $4.8 billion package to cancel the debts of 20 of the world's poorest countries early next year, under a plan launched in June by the Group of Eight industrialised nations. The IMF's portion of the multilateral debt relief initiative will be covered in part by profits from a 1999 off-market gold transaction and contributions from 43 countries to the IMF's lending facility for poor countries. The IMF said it had commitments from donors to fill a $285 million financing gap in the package. The World Bank and African Development Fund are likely to announce their packages as early as next week. Among the countries to benefit are Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Uganda, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Honduras, Guyana, Senegal, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Niger and Mali. To satisfy some donor concerns about whether money resulting from the debt relief will be spent well, the IMF will conduct a 'sp

The World Bank on Wednesday praised China for changes to its company law that sharply lower the minimum capital amount required to start a company. The new law, effective Jan. 1, 2006, will lower the minimum requirement to 30,000 yuan ($3,700) for limited liability companies in all industries. Previously, entrepreneurs had to pay 500,000 yuan to open a manufacturing or wholesaling business. The World Bank and its private sector arm, the International Finance Corp., said such reforms, while simple, could create new jobs. "Improving regulations is vital for all entrepreneurs and key to creating more employment opportunities. Young people looking for their first jobs and unemployed people benefit the most from such reform," World Bank vice president Michael Klein said in a statement. Prior to the changes, China had the eighth highest minimum capital requirement in the world. Only Ethiopia, Jordan, Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza and Yemen imposed higher s

Madagascar's President Mr Marc Ravalomanana is in Singapore for a four-day working visit. He called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on Tuesday afternoon. Madagascar has a population of nearly 17 million people. Agriculture is a mainstay of the economy, accounting for more than one-fourth of GDP and employing four-fifths of the population. The Madagascan leader also called on President SR Nathan. Mr Ravalomanana has been at the helm of the country since April 2002.

Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) is in talks to buy a majority stake in a mobile phone services provider in Madagascar, the fast-expanding company said on Tuesday. "The company is conducting negotiations in this regard but a final agreement has not been reached yet," MTC said in a statement on the Kuwait bourse Web site. In Madagascar, an official with Madacom said MTC is bidding for the telecom concern that is majority-owned by Hong Kong- based Distacom. But the official, who did not want to be identified, gave no details on size of bid or the size of stake involved. "It's almost done," the Madacom official told Reuters in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo. "There's still negotiations but maybe in the next few days we'll have results. It will be official in the next few weeks." Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas that MTC was in talks to buy a majority stake in an unidentified Madagascan mobile phone firm which it said had 250,0

PAN AFRICAN MINING CORP. (Vancouver:PAF.V - News) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has successfully concluded field operations on the Phase 2 Exploration Program on its Mountain of Gold Project. Eight zones have now been targeted for core drilling. The project is located in the Dabolava region of the Central-West Plateau of Madagascar. The Company's license in this region encompasses approximately 1825 sq. km. situated 200 air kilometers west-southwest of the capital city of Antananarivo, in the provinces of Toliary and Antananarivo. The Phase 2 field operations were designed as a follow-up to the Company's discovery of a permissive zone of dilation hosting high-grade gold mineralization along the 10 km. northwest trending Mountain of Gold shear system. The current program has been designed to generate additional focused drill targets in order to expand the zone of initial discovery at Dabolava East and to identify other similarly permissive zones along

High officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have met with Madagascar's Finance Minister Benjamin Radavidson in Washington, urging for faster economic reforms. If the Malagasy government managed to raise tax revenues and reform the scandal-ridden public company JIRAMA by the end of the year, a new ad comprehensive IMF programme could soon be authorised. Anne Krueger, the First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, herself met with Finance Minister Radavidson and a visiting Malagasy delegation to discuss further structural reforms in Madagascar. Ms Krueger today said she had "held very open and constructive discussions" with the Malagasy delegation. The government of Marc Ravalomanana has followed a strategy of fast and deep-ploughing economic reforms and liberalisation in line with prescriptions from the IMF and the World Bank. Until now, this has shown rapid results and strong donor confidence, including a very ample debt cancellation. By now, however, result