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Madagascar elections: Lalao Ravalomanana looking to become Africa’s 3rd female leader
“When I arrived at the airport I was surprised by the daily hardships. Life has gotten worse. I saw kids not going to school. And those who did were unable to afford any materials,” she said in her first interview since returning, conducted on Thursday.
“My aim as a woman is to give the people of Madagascar the spiritual food they need,” she said. “Since we are made of flesh, we must also talk of food for the body,” she added, while offering little by way of policies to help economic recovery.
Convicted in absentia, Marc Ravalomanana has been blocked by Madagascar’s authorities from returning to the country.
The African Union indicated that it would not recognize the vote if Rajoelina, Lalao Ravalomanana and another ex president, Didier Ratsiraka, took part.
The economy has still not recovered from the turmoil that followed Marc Ravalomanana’s removal. The country’s economy is estimated to attain growth of of just 2.6 percent in 2013, well below the 7.1 percent achieved before the crisis in 2008.
Lalao said she would lure investors back but gave no details. Her husband opened the doors to multi-nationals to exploit Madagascar’s deposits of oil, gold, cobalt, nickel, chrome, uranium and ilmenite, a titanium ore.
Under his watch, foreign direct investment (FDI) leapt from US$85 million in 2005 to US$1.2 billion in 2008, due largely to two mining projects.
