Madagascar will not be present in the IMF and the World Bank’s Spring Conference

No Malagasy delegation will attend the Spring Conference of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, and that is in large part due to the absence of international recognition of the current government.

There is no doubt, Madagascar has been excluded from the list of participants in the Spring Conference of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is going to take place from April 11 to 16, 2011, in Washington. And whatever may happen in the meantime, Madagascar’s participation in the conference is minimal or even nonexistent. In this regard, a World Bank’s High Official residing in Madagascar affirmed that, “Even if the Community Development of the Southern African Countries (SADC) decided to recognize Madagascar, the process of international recognition is more complicated and, thus, is unlikely to happen right before the conference”.

The SADC’s decision to recognize the current government in Madagascar will not allow Madagascar to earn its ticket to Washington. Stating the World Bank’s position on the issue, its Country Manager, Adolfo Brizzi, made it clear during his speech at the Center for Diplomatic and Strategic Studies (CEDS) when saying that, “country members themselves determine the fate of Madagascar, not the institution”. And until now, those country members in question appear to be more focused on something else than on the Great Island.