In an assessment of 653 freshwater plant and animal species living on Madagascar and nearby islands, biologists found that 43 percent are threatened with extinction or there isn’t enough information to assess how well they’re doing. Nearly 80 percent of endemic plants examined in the study face extinction. The team lists unsustainable farming practices, deforestation, dam construction, mining and the overuse of natural resources, such as overfishing, as causes for the widespread declines.
Dans United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Madagascar has asked UNCTAD to evaluate how well the country can do business online by carrying out a Rapid eTrade Readiness Assessment in the second half of 2018. According to UNCTAD's 2017 Business-to-Consumer E-commerce Index, Madagascar - lying 400 kilometres off the southeast coast of Africa - ranks 118 out of the 144 countries evaluated. "E-commerce in Madagascar is still at an early stage. But the country needs to prepare to ensure that its companies are able to compete in the evolving digital economy. In 2014, Madagascar adopted laws on aspects of e-commerce - including electronic transactions, cybercrime, and privacy and data protection - but has yet to put in place the regulations to effectively enforce the legislation. To paint a full picture of the Malagasy e-commerce landscape, the eTrade readiness assessment will look beyond the legal and regulatory framework to also assess the following policy areas:
- Information and communication technology infrastructure, such as broadband and mobile network coverage, secure internet services and power supply
- Logistics, including the quality of the roads and postal system
- Payment solutions, such as mobile money, e-banking, and credit card payment gateways
- Access to financing opportunities, such as bank loans, for small businesses looking to invest in e-commerce
- E-commerce skills development, such as higher-education and vocational training programmes for online marketing, data analysis and computer programming
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