Doing business in Madagascar

Thanks a lot Rina

I believe the transfer into a country is in no country difficult and welcome, the question is if investors or entrepreneurs are welcome.... meaning how is foreign capital handled and respected!

Can you tell us some more details on the above questions, its for sure interesting for all of us.

Oliver

Please,write me in *** ,i will wait U
Thanks.u

As a foreigner, you cannot buy land in Madagascar.

You could only buy it in the name of your Malagasy husband or wife.

I had a small company with three employees in Madagascar during 10 years.
Unless you do sth illegal or are in the gold or precious stones business,
you cannot get rich in Madagascar. Nevertheless I do not regret anything,
because I was able to realize my keenest dreams.

I left in 2015, because I could not stand the general degradation of the country anymore after the coup in 2009 and 5 years of transitional government: Criminality (in about 25-40% of the criminal acts the Police or Military are actively involved - either by renting their uniforms or arms or as a head of a gang), extensive corruption, horrible environmental degradation - between May and November ALL the country is burnt black and you see thousands of charcoal sacks on the roads.

A big part of my heart will stay there forever, and when I see photos on FB of my friends, of the always clear blue skies, the white sands of the beaches... I want to cry. But blue skies and white sand is not everything in life, and the older you are, the more vulnerable you become - and I definitely do not want to be attacked by a gang of 8-10 men. Within 2 years, 15 Frenchmen were attacked, tortured and killed in their houses - and generally the real criminals are never identified and punished. In many cases, even high people from the government are involved - for examle in bank robberies.

Get informed before you invest your money, and don't dream!

You will find plenty of people who want to help you (and earn money with you)!

If you want to invest in tourism, ask some people who have been trying to sell their hotels since several years. The number of tourists coming to Madagascar is ridiculously low. There were armed attacks and robberies in Montagne d'Ambre, Ambalavao and in a Vezo village, among others.

In case you are still decided to open a business there:
1) Travel to the island for 3 months and make yourself an idea, talk with people -
    especially investors who are already there, with your embassy, read the newspapers
   (in French) online, for ex. La Gazette, Express, Les Nouvelles, Le Midi. 
2) Never place all your money there - keep some kind of safety in your country: a rented
   house or apartment, life insurance, well-filled bank account or whatever. Maybe also
   an online business which makes you independent of earning money in Madagascar.
3) Many people are looking for jobs - 95% of the work in Madagascar is INFORMAL. It
    is probably the most informal country of the world (as one of my employees always
    said). But the education and vocational training is not comparable with the knowhow
    in industrialized countries - you will have to train the people yourself.
4) I made very good experience by testing a guy as a houseboy who was recommended
    to me by neighbors. As he made a very good impression, I asked if he wanted to
    become an electrical engineer (I needed one), paid his vocational training, a driver's
    licence for car and truck and a computer course, and he was extremely happy to be
    able to learn and developed very well. I also employed his wife (an analphabet who
    speaks only Malagasy) as a housemaid. Whenever I need a gardener or mechanics,
    he took care to choose him and negotiated the price. This has pro's and con's, but
    life is a compromise...
5) My 3 employees worked with me during all these 10 years, my company had an
    excellent reputation, and we were able to realize a lot of good activities; presenting
    solar technology at the university and in market places, organizing 3 big exhibitions
   and a lot of environmental conferences. We were the pioneers in the North-West
   region.
6) The good thing in Africa is that whenever you suggest an idea to contribute to
   development, the doors will be open for you, and it is much easier than in any
   industrial country where everything exists already. But Africa/Madagascar is not for
   everybody!
7) Very important: Learn Malagasy! Some time ago, a forumer wrote: Mianatra teny gasy,
   aza mahatoky - sorry, I forgot the third, maybe someone remembers...: Learn the
   Malagasy language, don't trust anybody and...??

Good evening Sir, I wish to help and work with you, please talk by email: ***

and the 3rd was: aza manofy - don't dream!

Hello ,

Do you have found your buiseness in Madagascar ?

Regards

Hi Julien,

I think Madagascar is open to foreign investments.

Registering a company is now available online with EDBM's new platform and you can get your company set in 3 days.

Recruiting isn't hard also. But depending on your business field, some profiles might be hard to find.

About the tax, there are 2 type of taxes :
One is called IR and the other one is IS. The type of tax you pay depends on the size of your company. There also might be additional taxes depending on your business field. I don't really remember the details about the taxes but you can check it out here http://www.impots.mg/en

@madagascar-tour-manager

Hi

I need to come over to open or rent a restaurant in madgascar. I Egyptian Chef  need to know first if that easy to do. Hope to hear from you about low in madgascar and costs. How much money i will need to arrange.

Thank you

@elshatawy73 Hello and welcome !

Please note that you are participating on an old thread and that member hasn't been active for the past 2 years.

I would suggest that you open a new topic on the Madagascar forum so that active members might guide you.

You may also get in touch with the Economic and Development Board of Madagascar, they are mandated to guide investors : https://edbm.mg/

All the best

Bhavna