Madagascar Customs Sees 68% Revenue Jump After AI Deployment, Becomes IMF Pilot

Madagascar's customs administration has been designated a pilot project by the International Monetary Fund for the integration of AI into customs services, after AI-driven tools contributed to a 68% increase in customs revenues in January 2025 compared with the same month a year earlier.

IMF specialists Victor Budeau and François Chastel led an intensive training mission at Madagascar's customs authority beginning April 24, 2025 and concluding May 7, 2025, focused on embedding AI more deeply into customs procedures. The administration is currently deploying three AI-driven systems: automatic image analysis technology known as RESNET for scanning cargo, Smart Scanning tools for accelerated inspections, and an Enhanced Risk Assessment (ERA) system that flags high-risk shipments for closer review.

Ernest Zafivanona Lainkana, Director General of Customs, said centralizing data into a unified database would be essential to maximizing the AI systems' potential, pointing to data fragmentation as one of the administration's remaining technical hurdles. The IMF's decision to designate Madagascar as an African pilot for AI-in-customs work suggests that the country's experience could inform a continent-wide approach to modernizing revenue collection — a priority for many African governments seeking to close persistent tax and customs revenue gaps without raising rates.

The initiative fits into a broader IMF push, outlined in its own technical research, on how AI can simultaneously improve efficiency for tax authorities and reduce compliance friction for taxpayers. For Madagascar, a country where customs revenue represents a significant share of government income, the reported revenue gains offer an early, concrete case study of AI's fiscal payoff in a lower-income African context.

Madagascar's customs authority has set a 2029 target to extend the AI tools to additional control sectors, strengthen underlying digital infrastructure, and share its implementation experience with other African revenue authorities as the technology matures.