Isolated Territories and Infrastructure Development

Madagascar invests large amounts of money in road infrastructure, parallel to investments in railway infrastructure and rail subsidies. However, there seems to be no economic justification for investing in two land transport infrastructures in parallel. The amount of state funds channeled into these projects is as expected limited, resulting in deficit funding for both rail and road infrastructure. This results in poor infrastructure and an inferior transportation system. The chapter posits that Madagascar should invest singularly in a land transportation infrastructure; as the well-known proverb advises, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”