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Madagascar: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption

Focus on the natural resources sector (especially rosewood, gold and wildlife)

Madagascar grapples with systemic corruption, a weak rule of law and porous borders with an abundance of natural resources, which has in turn given rise to various organised criminal networks dealing in illicit trade. The ongoing COVID crisis has only exacerbated environmental crime. While substantial research has been done on rosewood and tortoise trafficking, an understanding of the illicit gold sector is required. Trafficking routes for wildlife and precious stones or cannabis seems to be same, but it is yet to be determined if there are overlaps in crime networks.

Also available in French
9 March 2021
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Madagascar: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption

Main points

  • Systemic corruption, weak rule of law and porous borders with an abundance of natural resources has given rise to various organised criminal networks dealing in illicit trade.
  • Rosewood is the primary resource being illegally logged and smuggled out of the country, mainly to China. Actors in the trade have strong patronage networks with the political elite, and some rosewood timber barons are politicians.
  • While there are several cases of gold smuggling that have come to light, there is a need for further research for an in-depth understanding of the various actors and networks involved.
  • Wildlife trafficking is rampant with several species, including tortoises and lemurs being smuggled out of the country via land and sea.
  • Harassment of those raising voices against corruption and environmental crime is on the rise.

Cite this publication


Rahman, K. (2021) Madagascar: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2021:1)

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About the author

Kaunain Rahman

Kaunain received her Master's in Corruption and Governance from The Centre for the Study of Corruption at the University of Sussex in the UK where her focus area of research was corruption in international business. She works as Research Coordinator at Transparency International (TI), and her main responsibilities lie with the Anti-Corruption Helpdesk.

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All views in this text are the author(s)’, and may differ from the U4 partner agencies’ policies.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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