19.1. Introduction

With a population of 24 million inhabitants made up of a melting pot of 18 ethnic groups, Madagascar is the fifth-largest island in the world it’s located in the heart of the Indian Ocean, with a geographical area of 587,041 km². Ranked 142nd in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 154th on the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2016, the country had an inflation rate of 8.3% in 2017, according to INSTAT, making the Red Island one of the least developed countries in the world.

Despite the existence of great mineral and natural resources (90% of endemic species), exploited mainly by Western interests, 90% of the Malagasy population now lives in extreme poverty with less than €2 a day (a liter of petrol at the pump costs €1), the monthly minimum wage is almost €40, in a context of insecurity and permanent political instability.

Like many African countries, Madagascar’s socioeconomic development is largely based on its ability to build effective human capital, both in the public and private sectors, in our postmodern society. Faced with the urgent need to develop the skills of its leaders at different levels, highlighted in the recent work of Ramboarison-Lalao and Gannouni (2017), to what extent do training and learning methods based on Western models contribute to efficient apprenticeships within Malagasy future managers?

19.2. Higher education in management sciences in Madagascar

The private sector is now playing an increasingly important role, since it is difficult for Baccalaureate graduates to find a place in the public universities. Initial and continuing training represent the majority of offers, while e-learning training remains marginal.

Training systems should correspond to Madagascar’s socioeconomic needs insofar as the country’s natural environment offers great opportunities for appropriate training.

However, the sociopolitical and economic context is an obstacle to the development of an effective education system, as shown in Box 19.1.

In the public sector, higher education in Madagascar has six main state universities located in the provinces of Antananarivo, Mahajanga, Toamasina, Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa and Toliara. These public universities include institutions, such as faculties, engineering schools, colleges of higher education, institutes and distance learning centers, which are directly attached to the Malagasy Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MeSupRes). Training in management sciences is offered: Master’s degree in management faculties, DEUG or professional degree at the University Institute of Management (Mahajanga), the Higher Professional Institute of Management (Toamasina) and the Higher Institute of Business Administration (Antsiranana). The MeSupRes has adopted the License-Master-Doctorate (LMD) system since 2008, with the doctorate being prepared jointly with Western universities.

Several private universities and business schools also offer initial and continuing training in management sciences. In the private sector, there are more than 50 higher education institutions, most of which are located in Antananarivo. Among the most renowned, the Institut National en Sciences Comptables et Administration d’Entreprise (INSCAE), the Université Catholique de Madagascar (UCM) and the Institut Supérieur de la Communication, des Affaires et du Management (ISCAM) stand out with the high employability rate of their graduates.

INSCAE offers various master’s degrees in initial and continuing education (options in business administration and finance) and MBAs with executive programs. In addition to its diploma courses, INSCAE allows managerial knowledge to be updated through short courses. UCM offers initial training courses such as its Master’s degree in business management for future business executives, who acquire skills based on advanced technical versatility. ISCAM offers various courses in initial and continuing training in the field of management and business development. In addition, this institute offers a Master’s degree in international management and business development in exclusive apprenticeship training with Socota, a Malagasy group that has activities in spinning, the textile industry, portfolio management and real estate assets, responsible fishing for wild shrimp and organic label shrimp aquaculture.

19.3. Legal framework: apprenticeship in Madagascar on the basis of the French model

In Madagascar, apprenticeships are governed by the Labor Code, according to Act No. 2003-044.

The education system in Madagascar is largely based on the French model in the texts. However, the limited financial resources of Malagasy companies cause a significant gap in practice between the two countries:

• – in France, the CPF, which replaces the DIF, allows employees to benefit from up to 150 hours of training and the CIF offers the possibility of training leave of up to one year. In Madagascar, the duration of training leave is limited to a maximum of 12 days per year (article 194 of the Labor Code), which makes it possible to follow short management training courses, in particular;
• – even if article 193 of the Labor Code advocates the principle of support for vocational training in Madagascar, the financial and institutional support (e.g. the CFAU) available in France in the apprenticeship and professionalization contract for work-linked training is difficult to transpose, due to a lack of resources and financial means;
• – in Madagascar, there are significant disparities in the allocation of resources dedicated to training between large foreign multinational firms (e.g. banks transpose the corporate model of their branches and have the financial resources required to finance the work-linked training: the case of Socota, described below, illustrates these rare exceptions that confirm the rule) and the SMEs that have limited resources.

In Madagascar, in addition to the initial training following the intensive “Grande École” regime, long-cycle management training, offered in private and public educational institutions, such as INSCAE, ISCAM or ENAM, is mainly based on continuous training given in the evening, which makes it possible to reconcile professional activity and diploma training, with a modular program tailored to your needs. Continuing training overcomes the difficult operationalization of the French-style work-linked training, due to an unfavorable socioeconomic context. At INSCAE, for example, continuing education is provided on a part-time basis in the evening, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with three annual academic sessions:

• – session from January to May;
• – intensive session in June–July;
• – session from August to December.

It should be noted that the distance learning offered by some institutions offers an alternative that is not unanimously accepted.

19.4. What added value does an apprenticeship with continuous management training bring?

19.5. Conclusion

Training should not be reductively based on defined models, but should be designed according to Madagascar’s needs and resources. It is important to set up an apprenticeship model that can ensure that the skills of future managers match the types of industries specific to the country. The testimonials of the manager and the HR manager highlight the importance of continuous training and, in particular, the added value of work-linked training, which is a guarantee of a personalized and a qualitative training. While it is undeniable that the quality of higher education contributes to the economic, social and technological development of societies, the work-linked training that is implemented within Socota, for example, on the model of the University of Enterprises (El-Tannir 2002) is an innovative mechanism in Africa. However, this type of apprenticeship requires substantial financial resources that most Malagasy companies do not have.