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France and Madagascar will increase economic cooperation, including building a major hydroelectric dam, as President Emmanuel Macron visits the island nation. The first visit by a French president in 20 years aims to strengthen ties despite lingering colonial disputes.
Macron announced after talks with President Andry Rajoelina that several agreements would be concluded during the visit, covering energy, digital technology, infrastructure and tourism.
They include funding from the French development agency, AFD, and a loan from the French treasury to support the construction of a major hydropower dam in Volobe, in the east of the country, which has been in the pipeline for almost a decade. A deal is also expected to be reached for the entry of French electricity giant EDF into Madagascar's hydroelectric company, CGHV, an official said.
Macron called for a "partnership" between the two nations over strategic rare earth minerals needed for renewable energies, of which Madagascar has extensive reserves.
Rajoelina meanwhile urged future investment in the island's "immense potential", of which France is already the top trading partner.
Macron's trip comes with France facing challenges to its sovereignty of some of its Indian Ocean territories and the growing ambitions of China and Russia in the region. Madagascar, a French-speaking island of 30 million people, disputes France's ownership of several small islets nearby called the Scattered Islands that stayed under French rule when its other African colonies became independent. Similarly, the neighbouring archipelago nation of the Comoros claims the right to the island of Mayotte, a French department.
Both occupy a strategic position in the Mozambique Channel, a major transit route for international trade and rich in gas and oil.
While Paris favours a "co-management"of the Scattered Islands, there is a push for Rajoelina to raise a full handover, similar to the 2024 deal for Britain to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Madagascar is the fifth largest island in the world and known for its rich biodiversity and natural resources but burdened by high poverty.
