Codatu at the Madagascar-France strategic meeting

On Wednesday, 23 April 2025, Jean-Jacques Helluin, Executive Director of Codatu, was invited by the Groupement des Entreprises de Madagascar (GEM) and the Mouvement des Entreprises de France International (MEDEFI) to participate as a panellist in the round table discussion on infrastructure during the strategic meeting in Antananarivo for the emergence of new structuring partnerships between Madagascar and France.

Jean-Jacques Helluin discussed the topic of urban mobility infrastructure, which is crucial for urban businesses, which generate 70% of the country’s GDP, to play their full role as drivers of development. While this area has long been severely underfunded, explaining the current level of congestion and pollution in the capital, there is now momentum with several major presidential projects (urban rail, urban cable car, fleet of new buses). To ensure that this development leads to a fundamental solution in the form of a multimodal and integrated mobility system, three main proposals emerged from discussions with businesses:

– Develop and implement Urban Mobility Plans (PMUD) in Madagascar’s major cities that are pragmatic and adapted to each local context, involving local authorities, users and technical partners. Such a plan is currently being developed in the capital and should ideally be implemented by a Greater Antananarivo authority responsible for all modes of transport and with the technical expertise and dedicated funding to support public transport, for example through the reintroduction of vehicle tax discs.

– Promote soft mobility through appropriate infrastructure. Walking, in particular, accounts for more than 70% of trips in Antananarivo and should therefore be a particular focus for public authorities and donors in the future.

– Modernise the current public transport system, i.e. urban and suburban Taxi-Be in the capital, which accounts for the vast majority of motorised trips. Improvements in service quality should be accompanied by incentives for transport operators via the dedicated fund mentioned above.

Codatu would like to thank the Groupement des Entreprises de Madagascar (GEM) and the Mouvement des Entreprises de France International (MEDEFI) for their invitation.