World Bank approves $225 million urban-resilience package for Madagascar’s two largest cities
The World Bank approved $225 million on July 6, 2026, for an urban-resilience project covering Madagascar’s two largest urban areas: Greater Antananarivo and Greater Toamasina.
The Integrated Urban Development and Resilience Project for Jobs, known as PRODUIRE2, is designed to connect climate adaptation with housing, public infrastructure, land administration and employment. The package is intended to strengthen resilience in cities facing the effects of flooding and cyclone damage while improving services and supporting urban livelihoods.
Rebuilding after cyclone damage
The World Bank said Cyclones Fytia and Gezani caused damage in early 2026 estimated at 3.4% of Madagascar’s gross domestic product. In Toamasina, Cyclone Gezani damaged about 70% of the city’s housing stock, according to the bank’s announcement.
Those figures are presented by the World Bank as estimates of the recent disaster impact. They do not mean that all housing across Madagascar was damaged at that level, and the project’s approval does not mean that reconstruction has already been completed.
In Greater Toamasina, PRODUIRE2 will support the reconstruction of resilient housing and the rehabilitation of critical public infrastructure. The World Bank specifically identified schools and health facilities among the infrastructure covered by the project.
What the project will fund
In Greater Antananarivo, the project will invest in flood protection, drainage, solid-waste management and neighborhood upgrading. It will also support land administration, an element that can affect residents’ ability to document and secure rights to property.
The combination of physical works and land documentation gives the project a broader scope than emergency rebuilding alone. It links protection from flooding and improved neighborhood infrastructure with housing recovery, public facilities and the formal recording of land rights.
Across the two urban areas, the World Bank says the project aims to reach 1.5 million people with climate-resilient infrastructure by 2032. It also aims to reconstruct 20,000 homes, provide land documentation for 50,000 parcels and generate about 17,000 jobs.
At least 40% of new land documents are planned to include women as sole or joint rights holders. That is a project objective, rather than a reported result already achieved.
Why the urban focus matters
Madagascar’s project places housing and disaster resilience inside a city-development program rather than treating them as separate concerns. The planned work covers two major urban areas and includes the systems that shape daily life after a disaster: homes, roads and other public infrastructure, drainage, waste management, schools, health facilities and land records.
For residents of Greater Antananarivo and Greater Toamasina, the practical stakes will depend on how the approved financing is converted into completed projects and documented land rights. The stated targets provide a measure for that future implementation, but they are not a guarantee that every target will be met.
UN-Habitat’s July urban-policy coverage places housing, resilience and implementation of the New Urban Agenda at the center of current international urban policy. In that context, Madagascar’s package offers a concrete example of how international development financing can combine climate-resilient infrastructure, housing reconstruction and employment goals in rapidly urbanizing areas.
What happens next
The next phase is implementation of PRODUIRE2 in Greater Antananarivo and Greater Toamasina. The project’s stated horizon is 2032, when the World Bank’s objectives call for the reach of 1.5 million people, reconstruction of 20,000 homes, documentation of 50,000 parcels and the creation of approximately 17,000 jobs.
Until those activities are carried out, the $225 million remains approved financing and the figures remain planned project targets. The World Bank’s announcement establishes the decision and intended scope; it does not report completed construction, completed land documentation or jobs already generated.
Sources
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