The High Constitutional Court of Madagascar has upheld a new law that gives the government the authority to seize land sold to foreigners before the country’s independence from France in 1960. The court confirmed the constitutionality of Law 2026-007 on August 3, finding it compatible with three articles of the 2010 constitution.
Article 1 of the constitution establishes that the terms for land sales and long-term leases benefiting foreigners shall be determined by law. The judges also relied on Article 34, which guarantees the right to personal property except for expropriation in the public interest with fair and prior compensation. Article 95 grants the law the power to establish rules for property ownership and expropriation.
The court’s conclusion states that establishing the legal regime for the automatic transfer to the Malagasy State of land registered in the name of foreigners during the colonial era is “in accordance with the Constitution.” This ruling directly addresses a contentious issue that dates back to the colonial period, effectively retroactively nullifying land rights acquired prior to 1960.
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The legislation was referred to the court by President Michael Randrianirina, a military colonel who assumed power in October 2025 following mass protests against the previous administration. The High Constitutional Court had previously validated the change of power, with its president, Florent Rakotoarisoa, insisting the transition was constitutional and not a coup. Rakotoarisoa himself was one of the six judges on the bench that ruled on the new expropriation law.
The law includes specific exemptions for land owned for diplomatic purposes, land purchased by foreigners who later became citizens of Madagascar, and land since transferred to local ownership. Enforcement of these provisions will be scrutinized by the international community as the nation handles complex legal and political waters.
Madagascar is rich in natural resources and has recently received backing from the US Development Finance Corporation for the exploitation of a large deposit of rare earths in the north of the country. The ruling aligns with a broader trend across Africa’s “coup belt,” where recent political upheavals have been accompanied by a rise in resource nationalism. New governments in the region are increasingly seeking greater control over their natural resources, raising the prospect of a potential wave of investor-state disputes. A report published in March by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law highlighted Madagascar as an example of a state where weak rule of law had led to instability.