What began as frustration over chronic power outages and water shortages has erupted into a nationwide political crisis, as thousands of young Madagascans take to the streets demanding President Andry Rajoelina’s resignation.
For a third straight week, demonstrations led largely by students and young professionals have swept through major cities including Antananarivo, Toliara, and Diego Suarez. The so called “Gen Z Revolt” has grown into one of the largest youth-led uprisings in Madagascar’s recent history, marked by violent clashes with security forces and widespread civil unrest.
Riot police have deployed tear gas and arrested dozens of protesters, but the movement shows no sign of slowing. What began as anger over failing public services has evolved into a broader indictment of economic stagnation, corruption, and government mismanagement.
Despite Madagascar’s wealth of natural resources from minerals to fertile farmland the country remains among the poorest in the world. Decades of instability and uneven development have left much of the population disillusioned, particularly the youth who make up the majority of the nation’s population.
In an effort to contain the crisis, President Rajoelina dismissed his entire cabinet last week a move widely seen as a political gambit rather than genuine reform. The reshuffle failed to calm the streets, where protesters now chant a single demand: “Rajoelina must go.”
The movement has drawn parallels to recent youth-led protests in Kenya and Nepal, fueled by social media and a growing sense of generational injustice.
The human toll is rising. The United Nations has reported at least 22 deaths linked to the unrest, though the government disputes that figure.
As night falls over Madagascar’s cities, the message from its restless youth is unmistakable: they are no longer content to live in the dark literally or politically.
