In Madagascar, societies are shifting demographically and there’s a sharp increase in the youth population, just like in the rest of Africa. But, unfortunately, many young people are not educated well enough to take charge of their own lives and build their success due to poverty and widespread corruption.
Nonetheless, these young talented Madagascar leaders have taken charge of their lives and are shaking things up in an attempt to change the face of Madagascar.
Let’s meet them.
Matina Razafimahefa
Matina Razafimahefa, is a young, talented Malagasy entrepreneur. She is the co-founder & CEO of Sayna– an innovative EdTech venture based in Madagascar.
Created in 2018, Sayna is a start-up by African developers via a micro-tasking platform. Sayna intends to address a twofold problem: the lack of training in the digital sector in Africa and the gap between the supply of digital talent and the growing demand of companies in the context of their digital transformation.
Sayna offers digital skills training and provides solutions that allow students to enter the job market. To date, Sayna has trained and placed over 2000 people in the global IT marketplace across multiple African countries like Comoros, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Senegal.
Sayna’s ambition is to enable at least 8,000 people in Africa to enter the digital industry through its training and have more than 3,500 people working on its micro-task platform; Meet the IT needs of 300 SMEs and start-ups in the French-speaking world; Complete a Series A fundraising of approximately €3 million in 2022 to accelerate growth and finance a pan-African expansion in West Africa.
Andriankoto Ratozamanana
Andriankoto Ratozamanana is recognized as a young world leader who demonstrates achievement and potential, especially in improving the lives of young people in Madagascar.
Andriankoto is a new media social entrepreneur and pioneer in Madagascar. He focuses on Sciences, Technology, and Innovation.
He is the Co-founder and CEO of the Habaka-Madagascar Innovation Hub, a non-profit organization supporting local youth with technology and entrepreneurship.
Andriankoto is also an international consultant who understands technology’s power regarding Africa’s socio-economic development.
He is a social entrepreneur who has been a passionate advocate for supporting the reforestation of his native Madagascar with endemic species and helping people produce essential oils and other sustainable products.
In 2014, Andriankoto was ranked among Africa’s top 100 young economic leaders by the Choiseul Institute for International Politics and Geo-economics. This annual independent study recognizes the economic leaders of Africa aged 40 or less who will play a significant role in Africa’s economic development.
In 2018, he was appointed by the government of Madagascar to take charge of the Private Sector and Digital Development.
Selected as a TED Fellow by the famous TED organization, Andriankoto was recognized in 2009 as an outstanding young world leader for improving the lives of young people in his local communities through technology.
Angelin Marius Rafidisaonina
For Angelin Marius Rafidisaonina, personal growth is about the simple things we often forget. It is about expressing oneself, learning new things and forming new habits, allowing oneself to experience things differently and keeping that process going as often as possible.
Because of Madagascar’s under par national education system, young people are forced to create a solution to a failing system. This is where Angelin Marius Rafidisaonina comes in.
Angelin is the founder of the training and mentoring program “Stop becoming… JUST BE!” His program gives youth in Madagascar the tools they need to choose their own path and achieve their goals.
In 2018, the programme received an award at the African Union Innovation Expo.
Nellie Anjaratiana
Madagascar has her very own Mary Slessor! Nellie Anjaratiana is the guardian angel to the twins of Mananjary.
Crowned Miss Madagascar in 2020, Nellie Anjaratiana saw her life turn into a fairy tale, an opportunity to advocate for children’s rights, especially the Mananjary twins. Her Beauty With A Purpose” project is to support and help the Mananjary twins abandoned at birth and deprived of rights because of local habits and customs in the South-east of Madagascar.
Forged from her humanitarian and charitable actions, Nellie desires to change the world. She wants to build awareness for the care centres for rejected twins in Mananjary and raise international awareness to the issue to have more resources.
Nellie desires to prevent children from being abandoned and to provide them with a place to go for their protection and where they can grow up in a safer and more caring environment. In addition, she would like to convince society and the parents of the children that twins are double blessings, not a curse.
Her project reached a milestone when the Malagasy State-backed her and supported the Mananjary twins.
