Madagascar Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in madagascar, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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eCommerce
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The great competitive equalizer for U.S. small businesses is the emergence of cross-border e-commerce as a viable channel to increase U.S. exports. Since the beginning of COVID, retail and B2B businesses have been redirecting resources online in order to meet this growing demand and, in some cases, to survive. CART’IN Madagascar is representing AMAZON, widening the country’s eCommerce ecosystem since last couple of year years and offering services from booking to door-to-door delivery and possible products return.

E-Commerce is much less common in Madagascar than in the United States. Nonetheless, Statista predicts revenues from e-commerce in Madagascar may reach $307.15 million in 2025 and achieve 6.13 percent annual growth between 2025-2029 to reach $389.68. Mobile phone users number nearly 14 million or approximately 45 percent of the population; among them are 3.8 million social media users, equating to 12.4 percent of population. Mobile banking and payment services provided by the four major mobile network operators in the country have expanded significantly since their introduction in 2010, and the national post office also offers competitive services like mobile money, thus increasing financial inclusion.

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Consumption (MICC) regulates e-commerce. Businesses selling online must have a secured online website. e-Commerce owners and managers must have a mandatory signed engagement to protect clients; there must be a signed agreement between the seller and customer, and round-the-clock processes for banks to seek customer approval for the use of credit card for e-commerce purposes.

Counseling U.S. businesses begins with helping clients develop a business’ digital sales strategy, which helps them to become more competent and confident online exporters as they eventually interact with you at Post to find overseas opportunities. This U.S. client counseling also involves a Website Globalization Review (WGR) Service that helps the client improve their online sales presence for overseas sales. 

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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