TL;DR Madagascar has nearly 33 million people, low average incomes and fewer than one in five people online. That points away from apps and towards ideas that raise farm earnings, sell power and clean water in small affordable units, and carry health and schooling to places the roads barely reach.

The market in numbers

  • Population: about 32.7 million in 2025[1].
  • GDP per capita: about US$600 in 2025[2].
  • Farming: agriculture, forestry and fishing added about 22% of GDP in 2025[3].
  • Internet use: about 19% of people were online in 2024[4], with about 75 mobile subscriptions per 100 people in 2023[5].
  • Remittances: personal remittances received were about 3.1% of GDP in 2025[6].
  • Currency: the Malagasy ariary (MGA).
  • Starting a company: the Economic Development Board of Madagascar (EDBM) runs a one-stop shop that brings ten ministries or ministerial services into one place, from registration through to permits[7][8].

What founders here actually have to work with

Madagascar is the opposite problem to its island neighbours. The market is big, but average income is about US$600 a head[2], so price per use matters more than features. A farmer will pay for a pump hour or a test result, but rarely for a subscription.

Agriculture's share of GDP, around 22%[3], undersells how many households depend on it. Export crops reward anyone who can prove quality and traceability to foreign buyers, while rice and staple growers need cheaper water, inputs and credit.

Only about 19% of people use the internet[4], so assume agents, paper, SMS or voice before smartphones. Distances are long and some roads close in the rainy season, which favours ideas that run locally once installed. Remittances are modest here at about 3% of GDP[6], so unlike Comoros the diaspora won't fund your market for you.

Ideas that fit Madagascar

These ideas were researched for India. The rupee costs and Indian licences don't carry over, so read each as a brief you'll redo with local numbers.

Export crops and quality

  • Peppertrail: Spray logs and residue test plans help spice exporters get through buyers' checks. Map which crops and destination rules matter most before building [Requires validation].
  • Spicelab: A screening lab near spice-producing areas lets lots get checked before they ship. Accreditation of the lab is the slow part [Requires validation].
  • Hiveproof: Hive-to-drum records and purity tests for honey exporters. Check which export markets accept Malagasy honey today [Requires validation].

Rice and staple farming

  • Ricelineage: Named varieties from named farmer groups, with each lot checked, could earn a premium for heritage rice. Find the buyer before you organise the growers.
  • Ricemethane: Field checks for rice methane credit projects need people on the ground. The credit market sets the pace, so keep costs light.
  • Cropdoctor: Advice on crop disease that sells no inputs and sticks to the label. Deliver it by voice or an agent in Malagasy and French.
  • Furrowlight: One loan repaid at harvest that covers a pump share and the season's inputs. You'd need a local lender or microfinance partner.
  • Pumpwheel: Solar pumps on trailers booked by the hour suit farmers who can't buy one outright.

Power and water

  • Candlepay: Remote-lock meters for solar kits sold on instalments. The UPI piece has to become a local mobile money channel [Requires validation].
  • Anchorwatt: Solar at rural phone towers with surplus power sold to shops next door. Start with one tower company.
  • Dusklog: Uptime checks and repair tracking for village solar streetlights that quietly stop working. Donors and local councils are the likely payers.
  • Saltfree: Solar units that make salty groundwater drinkable fit dry coastal areas. Keep the design repairable with local parts.
  • Pulpstrip: Paper water-test cards read by phone camera. Work with health authorities on what a failed test should trigger.

Health, schools and storms

  • Skyclinic: Drone routes between hospitals and remote health posts suit long, slow roads. Aviation approval comes first [Requires validation].
  • Stormcrate: Standby solar battery trailers for clinics and shelters after cyclones. Contracts would come from donors and government.
  • Mathsheet: A different printed maths sheet for each child from one teacher's phone needs no screen in the classroom. Rebuild it around the national syllabus.

Tourism

  • Reeftally: Scored reef photo surveys for dive operators on the coast. Partner with a marine research group.
  • Ratecove: Rate and paperwork help for small hotels and guesthouses. Replace the Goa permits with Malagasy tourism rules [Requires validation].

Rules to check before you start

Company creation runs through the EDBM one-stop shop[7][8]. Taxes sit with the Direction Générale des Impôts[9]. For payments, lending or mobile money ideas, confirm which central bank rules and licences apply [Requires validation]. Export crops, food testing, health and drone ideas each need their own approvals [Requires validation].

This is a starting list, not legal advice. Check with a local lawyer or the agency itself.

Questions founders ask

Pay-per-use services: renting pump hours, running water tests, or keeping export records for growers. Pumpwheel and Peppertrail above can start with one cluster of farmers.

Do foreigners need a local partner to start a company in Madagascar?

I couldn't confirm a local partner rule. Check with the EDBM one-stop shop, which handles company creation[7].

Should I build an app for Madagascar?

Usually not first. With about 19% of people online[4], an agent network, SMS or voice will reach far more customers.

Talk to Yash

Pricing an idea for a market where average income is about US$600 a year is the hard part in Madagascar, and I'm glad to work through yours. If you need a hand, you know where to find me.

Talk to Yash →

Sources

  1. World Bank, "Population, total: Madagascar", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/MDG/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&mrv=1
  2. World Bank, "GDP per capita (current US$): Madagascar", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/MDG/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?format=json&mrv=1
  3. World Bank, "Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP): Madagascar", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/MDG/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  4. World Bank (ITU data), "Individuals using the Internet (% of population): Madagascar", 2024. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/MDG/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  5. World Bank (ITU data), "Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people): Madagascar", 2023. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/MDG/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2?format=json&mrv=1
  6. World Bank, "Personal remittances, received (% of GDP): Madagascar", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/MDG/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  7. Economic Development Board of Madagascar, home page, 2026. https://www.edbm.mg/
  8. Newsmada, "Promotion des investissements: l'EDBM promeut son guichet unique", 2023-11-23. https://newsmada.com/?p=58727
  9. Direction Générale des Impôts, Madagascar, home page, 2026. https://www.impots.mg/

For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.