SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

7 domains mapped · Code: MG

These are jurisdiction-specific research-progress records. They expose first moves, likely actors, and institutional infrastructure where mapped; they are not a claim that every country has a finished statutory memo for all 61 domains.

Canonical domain beta-W from Industrial Monoculture. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Madagascar's slash-and-burn agriculture (tavy) has destroyed 90%+ of original forest. When deforestation data is linked to agricultural output, W becomes computable.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Deforestation & Industrial Logging. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Madagascar has lost most of its primary forest, and illegal rosewood and ebony smuggling out of the SAVA region and Masoala National Park strips public natural capital to enrich a small ring of traders and corrupt officials while villagers keep none of the value. Because the high-value species are CITES-listed and almost all stockpiles ship through a handful of ports to identifiable buyers in China, the chokepoints are few and auditable, which makes interdiction feasible.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Mining & Rare Earth Extraction. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Large industrial mines such as Ambatovy nickel-cobalt and Rio Tinto's QMM ilmenite operation at Fort Dauphin generate export revenue while leaving host communities with displaced livelihoods, contested water tables, and tailings-dam risk, and tax holidays mean much of the value leaves the country. Madagascar belongs to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, so revenue flows and contract terms can be forced into the open and renegotiated.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Child Labor in Global Supply Chains. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Tens of thousands of children dig mica by hand in the south and weed and harvest vanilla in the SAVA region, trading their schooling and lungs for a few cents a kilo while the value accrues to exporters and the electronics and cosmetics brands downstream. Because mica and vanilla both flow through narrow, traceable export channels to identifiable global buyers, supply-chain leverage and school-enrollment programs can reduce the cycle.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Fisheries. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Industrial shrimp trawlers and foreign tuna fleets, including those operating under the EU partnership and Chinese access deals, deplete stocks that hundreds of thousands of Malagasy artisanal fishers depend on for protein and income, and weak surveillance lets illegal, unreported, and unregulated boats fish unchecked. Because access is granted by treaty and license, the state can rewrite the terms and fund monitoring, and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission sets binding quotas.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Conflict Minerals and Blood Diamonds. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Most of Madagascar's gold and a large share of its sapphires and rubies leave the country smuggled and undeclared, depriving the treasury of revenue while leaving artisanal diggers exposed to violent middlemen and mercury poisoning. Because the formal export channels and refiners are identifiable and the state already controls the licensing regime, formalizing and tracing the trade is within reach.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Sovereign Debt & Intergenerational Extraction. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Madagascar carries high external debt and recurring fuel and power subsidy obligations against one of the world's lowest tax-to-GDP ratios, so debt service and opaque state-owned-enterprise liabilities crowd out spending on the health and schools its citizens need most. Because the major creditors are the IMF, World Bank, and a known set of bilateral lenders operating under disclosure norms, restructuring and transparency reforms are achievable.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

© 2026 Erik Postnieks · Independent Researcher · Salt Lake City