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  • Access to Land

Access of investors to land ownership in Madagascar

Land legislation confers 3 land statuses:

  • land belonging to the domains of the State, decentralized communities and other legal persons governed by public law;
  • the land of private persons;
  • land constituting areas subject to a specific legal protection regime.

Brief overview of the problems related to access to land in general and to women's access in Madagascar :

  • The Malagasy legal framework grants women the same rights as men in terms of access, ownership and control of land, and allows them to participate in decision-making on land issues, yet in practice women remain in a situation of inferiority due to the persistence of certain customs and traditions. As a result, the number of women holding land in their names is a minority. Customary law, which is still practiced alongside constitutional laws, obliges women to access land through their fathers, brothers, husbands or other men.
  • In theory, Malagasy women have the right to conclude contracts in their own name such as credit agreements, real estate transactions, commercial transactions, etc. but they face several failures due to society's deep attachment to customs.
  • The laws governing access to land are complicated because they have been accumulated for several decades. They are only partially updated and are mainly written in French. Consequently, a limited number of citizens can have access to all of these texts and understand their spirit and procedures.
angle-left Access to land for foreigners

Access to land for foreigners

I. Foreign access mechanisms to land:

  • Private arrangement between individuals: the tenant and the owner draw up a land rental contract in return for financial compensation.
  • Land against a payment of part of the production resulting from the exploitation of the land: very common practice in both rural and urban areas, even between nationals.
  • If the land is State domain, foreigners can access it by accession or concession:
    • Public domain of the State: The contracts of occupation of the public domain are administrative contracts by determination of the law. Property classified as public domain of the State is inalienable whether it is for the benefit of a Malagasy national and even less for foreigners. It is imprescriptible and elusive. The only right of individuals is temporary occupation or concession (emphyteutic lease), the duration of which is limited.
    • Private domain of the State: concerns land (not) registered or surveyed belonging to the State that can be the subject of private appropriation. Nationals can avail themselves of acquisitive prescription subject to compliance with the required conditions. Foreigners can either acquire the land or contract a simple concession.

II. Documents to be provided to the Economic Development Board of Madagascar (EDBM) in the event of a land acquisition project:

i- The land acquisition authorization is issued at the level of the EDBM acting on behalf of the Ministry in charge of Domains, at the request of the investor, who, for this purpose, files a file with the EDBM containing the following parts:

  • written request presented on a printed form provided by the EDBM
  • presentation of the planned activity and the reasons justifying the acquisition of the building intended for its exercise
  • certificate of legal status of the building whose acquisition is envisaged if the building is already registered or cadastralized
  • and all other documents required, depending on the case, by the administration in charge of Domains, in support of a request to acquire a building.

NB.: The EDBM gives the applicant a receipt for submitting the file.

ii- Said authorization does not constitute in any case a title deed on the building which is the subject of it, but only the document allowing the parties to carry out the formalities legally provided for the transfer of a building.

iii- Real estate acquired on the Land Acquisition Authorization may be freely assigned or transferred, with the exception of assignments or transfers for the benefit of foreign persons. The property may also be transferred to companies governed by Malagasy law whose management is placed under the control of foreigners or organizations that are themselves dependent on foreigners, subject to obtaining a Land Acquisition Authorization issued in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 2007-36 on investments

Failure to carry out the investment program under the conditions and deadlines described in the authorization for reasons that depend on the purchaser leads to the systematic forfeiture of the right of ownership. This forfeiture is pronounced by the authority at the origin of the delivery of the authorization. The decision to forfeit entails the automatic transfer of the State building. Any dispute relating to the application of the forfeiture must comply with the arbitration procedure indicated in the Malagasy Code of Civil Procedure.

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