Madagascar Joins Indian Ocean AI Summit to Build Regional Cooperation

Madagascar's Minister of Digital Development, Posts and Telecommunications, Mahefa Andriamampiadana, took part in the Indian Ocean Artificial Intelligence Summit held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Antananarivo, as the country looks to strengthen its position in the region's fast-growing AI landscape.

Regional focus

The summit brought together government officials, technologists and investors from across the Indian Ocean island states to discuss shared approaches to AI adoption. Organisers framed the event around three goals: building local technical skills, deepening regional cooperation on digital and AI policy, and attracting greater investment into the islands' emerging AI and technology sectors.

Madagascar's digital transformation push

Officials linked the summit to Madagascar's broader digital transformation strategy, describing AI as a lever the country wants to use to modernise public services and diversify an economy still heavily reliant on agriculture and outsourcing. Antananarivo has in recent years become a regional hub for AI data-annotation outsourcing work, giving the country a practical, if largely invisible, foothold in the global AI supply chain that officials say they now want to build on with more strategic, higher-value initiatives.