Madagascar has opened its lychee export season with strong harvests and record prices – even as investigators examine a sector that has for years been controlled by tycoon Mamy Ravatomanga, now under arrest in Mauritius.
Ravatomanga, a close ally of former president Andry Rajoelina, long dominated the trade through his company Sodiat.
At the busy port of Tamatave at the end of last month, workers began loading the first of three ships bound for Europe. Heavy storms are slowing operations because pallets cannot be moved in the rain, as exporters say the cardboard boxes must stay dry to protect the fruit.
They also say the crop is unusually good this year – with perfect ripeness, the desired 28mm fruit size and yields that are above expectations. “The 20,000-tonne lychee mark will easily be reached,” one exporter told RFI's Sarah Tétaud.
Prices are climbing too. Payments to collectors and producers in direct sales now exceed 2,000 ariary per kilo (around 38 euro cents).
The good news, however, has been somewhat overshadowed.
The day before it was due to open, a lychee processing station was destroyed by a fire that exporters say still has no known cause. Meanwhile, investigators from the country's Independent Anticorruption Bureau arrived in Tamatave – which handles about 80 percent of Madagascar’s international maritime cargo – to examine 10 years of financial flows.
Exporters say they have been asked to provide contracts, bank statements and accounting documents.
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'We had no choice'
The probe centres on LTC, a Mauritius-based shell company which handled payments between Malagasy exporters and foreign importers.
Exporters say Ravatomanga had strong links to the company. Investigators want to understand what kind of tax evasion schemes, money laundering systems or kickbacks might have been used, who was involved and where the missing money went.
Under pressure, long-standing tensions are beginning to surface. “Let those who played pay the heavy price,” one exporter said.
Another said they had little choice in the past. “Everyone had to collaborate with Mamy,” the exporter said. “We had no choice.”
Exporters have asked for more time so they can focus on the six key loading days. “There is a lot of money at stake, for farmers as for us, many jobs too. These six days are extremely important for Madagascar’s east coast,” one exporter said.
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Exporters push back
In a separate report on the lychee sector, exporters described how Ravatomanga dominated the trade for years through Sodiat. Members of the Lychee Exporters Group said he imposed his rules from 2009 onwards and claimed the biggest share of quotas.
On 23 October, the day before his arrest in Mauritius, exporters said he phoned at least four of them. “Do not try to touch even a single kilogram of lychees from my quotas,” he reportedly warned them.
The next day, the Lychee Exporters Group met and voted unanimously to exclude Sodiat from the trade. Narson Rafidimanana, a member of the group, said importers no longer wanted to work with the company.
“Shipowners and importers no longer want to hear about Sodiat. We do not want to be linked to all his wrongdoing,” Rafidimanana said. He said the move had lifted a long-standing fear.
“It is a new era; it is a liberation because during meetings of the Lychee Exporters Group no one had the right to speak. Everyone was afraid of him,” Rafidimanana said. “The risk was having quotas taken away, that he would decide to push us aside, things like that."
Members split Sodiat’s quotas among the 27 exporters, favouring smaller operators. Larger exporters received 25 tonnes and smaller ones 100 tonnes.
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Prosecutors suspended
The Financial Crimes Commission (FCC) in Mauritius has sought cooperation from the NGO Transparency Mauritius as part of its investigation into Ravatomanga’s activities, the Mauritian news site L’Express.mu reported.
Transparency Mauritius’s executive officer, Laura Jayumungal, said: “It is the FCC leading the investigation. If it needs support or information exchange, we touch base at that moment.”
Madagascar’s Justice Ministry has suspended two prosecutors from the country’s anticorruption courts after one publicly said that Ravatomanga faced no judicial proceedings, even though several complaints and denunciations had been recorded against him.
The ministry said the sanctions aimed to preserve the integrity of judicial institutions.
Exporters have reinstated air freight for early lychees, which had been blocked under Ravatomanga. The first fruit can now leave Madagascar around 10 days before the official maritime campaign.
But with an ongoing investigation in Tamatave, a fire at a processing station and questions surrounding LTC, exporters say this season is unlike any other. Even with good fruit quality and high prices, they warn the future of the trade will depend on what investigators uncover in the months ahead.
