In a show of support for the country's new administration, international donors at the weekend pledged US $2.3 billion in aid to Madagascar over four years.

Government ministers in Madagascar are to receive ten-fold pay increases in what the new president says is a move to curb corruption. President Marc Ravalomanana, who has just won a violent power struggle on the island, said that if officials were paid properly, they would not need to abuse positions.

After an eight-month long power struggle that divided the island nation, Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana has called for national reconciliation.

The political crisis in Madagascar appears to finally be at an end. Saying the incoming President seems to be "a chap who can actually deliver on things," Richard Cromwell of the Institute of Security Studies in Johannesburg discusses how the crisis was resolved and what lies ahead for the impoverished island nation.

Facing imminent military defeat, former Madagascan president Didier Ratsiraka on Tuesday called for an internationally guaranteed ceasefire, sparking speculation that the reign of one of Africa's longest rulers has finally come to an end.