This truism, which has been announced twice since the post colonial period (at the beginning of the 1990s, then ten years later), fed many hopes which melted rapidly like snow in the sun.

Yet, this island, which has huge potentials, may not indefinitely miss the train of development. The globalization wind, which blows beyond geographical borders and human prejudices, may only involve the country in an exchange system which will demolish public and private monopolies, sources of all economic archaisms which are detailed with much precision in the coming pages written by Malagasy academics.

Nowadays, the country is still suffering from the same chronic illness: lack of productivity, inherited from the collectivist system which ruined the country and is still perpetuating its dependency on the rest of the world for its supplies.

There ensues a perverse logic, the corollaries of which are the illnesses called trade balance deficit and currency depreciation.

In this context, all economic recipes have been in vain used by the successive governments, such as foreign debt, which is indispensable to the macroeconomic survival, dictates its own rules sometimes from Brussels, Washington, but most often in an intrinsic manner. Maintaining the payroll, which is supposed to stabilize this monetary deficit, is made to the detriment of a majority of the population who see their purchase power faint a little more every year – this being the case, while Madagascar must be in line with the PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategic Paper).

Last, the fluctuating rates of the Central Bank penalize loans, therefore investment, and the infernal spiral is continuing.

Il may be seen through these few examples that the country is the prey to macroeconomic tensions which have repercussions on daily life. Fortunately, some alternatives seem to be promising. These are tourism development and mining which are two currency generating activity sectors and they provide miraculous solutions.

In parallel, democratising micro credit (which is still subject to cultural and social forms of reluctance) may allow for spontaneous development of multiple activity segments which are outlined in the present work.

At last, according to the conclusion written by a young economist, “Another future” can only take place after a fierce fight against the politically correct, to get out of the beggar mentality imposed by an obsolete panafricanism that has proved sterile.

Jacques ROMBI