Madagascar, also known as “Red Island” due to the colour of its soil, is the 4th largest island in the world. Located in the Indian Ocean, it has a unique history. Although Madagascar lies in the Southeastern coast of Africa, the Madagascan population (also known as “Malagasy“) are believed to have descended from Malaysia and Africa.
Although Madagascar is often overlooked by entrepreneurs and investors, the vibrant population is becoming strategically attractive offering cost-effective solutions for expanding organisations.
Value for Money
As a cost-efficient market with strong growth potential, Madagascar offers high-value opportunities at relatively low costs. Thanks to low operational expenses, businesses achieve more and recover their return on investment much faster – making Madagascar the ideal location for expansion with a good time-zone alignment with Europe, Africa and Asia.
Youthful workforce
With a population of over 32 million, only 3.4% are aged 65+.
Madagascar concentrates more than 4.2 million in the capital city. For businesses, having a well-populated capital suggests more available workers within a relatively small geographic area reducing any risks of complexity of recruitment and increasing the quality of candidate selection.
Despite high temperatures, the population has adapted to changing seasons over the years therefore enabling them to remain energetic and focused in all weather conditions. A normal day settles at 25°C.
Skill set
Madagascar is a competitive outsourcing destination with the average person speaking a minimum of 2-3 distinctive languages. Due to high tourism demand, English proficiency is making a rapid improvement, especially among young professionals.
Antananarivo hosts most of the country’s universities and business institutes with an increasing number of graduates in business administration, accounting, law, IT, management, finance, and marketing. With a rising popularity of vocational training programs focused on digital skills, administrative work and customer service, Madagascar is suitable for back-office operations, finance support, HR services, IT services and content production.
With an increasing familiarity with office software, staff integrate into international teams with minimal training.
“I had the privilege of immersing myself in the Malagasy culture for over a decade and I would observe how the people would joyfully wake up as early as 4am to work before the dreadful rush hour and return home after dusk – to only repeat the same rhythm the following day. The Malagasy population are friendly, easy to train, skilled, and – most of all – they love what they do.”
