The prognosis: Not. Good. (Shockingly enough).
Nearly a month after the coup d'état which overthrew then-sitting president Marc Ravalomanana, Madagascar appears to have spiraled from a political into an economic crisis - or some horrible agglomeration of the two. The country has been suspended from the African Union, and bloody protests continue to rage as the government cracks down on civil liberties, most recently curbing the media (ironically, the very matter over which opposition-leader-turned-president Rajoelina waged all-out political war on Ravalomanana). Recent findings from the World Bank further suggest that the country's economy is in as dire a state as are its politics, with the GDP growth rate expected to be negative for 2009 - down from a pre-crisis projection of 7.5%. More details can be found here.
[HT: Africa Can]