The movement was unprecedented in both form and scale. Thousands of people defied a government ban on demonstrations against water and electricity cuts in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo, on September 25, 2025. Protests were organized by "Gen Z Madagascar," a group launched in mid-September on social media by young Malagasy, some of whom are based abroad. The organization, which describes itself as a "peaceful, civic movement," condemned the "constant power outages and a lack of access to drinking water," as well as "systemic corruption within institutions" and "the extreme poverty affecting much of the population," in a statement published Thursday.

In recent months, Madagascar's capital has faced increasingly severe electricity restrictions, due in part to falling water levels at hydroelectric dams during the dry season and, above all, mismanagement by the national water and electricity company, Jirama. "We can't take the blackouts anymore – sometimes they last up to eight hours a day. We're forced to prepare for our thesis defenses in the dark or wait for the power to return in the middle of the night," said a frustrated 23-year-old literature student at the University of Antananarivo.

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