Madagascar’s “Gen Z” revolution was started by a popstar pushing 50. Faniry Alban Rakotoarisoa, also known as Gangstabab or Baba, had won Madagascar’s Artist of the Year award in 2015 with a ballad about a dad trying to stop his daughter from rushing into marriage. He kept up his day job as a gate agent for Air France at Madagascar’s main airport, but his real ambition was to improve his country’s fortunes.

The world’s fourth-largest island may be rich in nature (82% of Madagascar’s plants and 90% of its vertebrates are found nowhere else), but it is one of the poorest countries on Earth. Baba despaired at Madagascar’s unending corruption; the lack of jobs; the way in which the system felt rigged to serve a tiny elite while the rest of the population suffered. The state-owned utilities were in a parlous state: taps often ran dry, and only a third of people had access to electricity. Those who did suffered from frequent blackouts. Like many Malagasy, Baba laid some of the blame at the feet of the president, Andry Rajoelina, a smooth-talking media mogul who had been in power since 2019 (and before that from 2009-2014).

Baba ran unsuccessfully to be mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, and became known for his stunts: he once dragged a bag of rubbish in front of the city hall to protest about infrequent bin collections. In 2023 he was sacked from his job at the airport (Baba claims this was after he publicly criticised Rajoelina’s bid for re-election). The following year Baba was elected to Antananarivo’s municipal council as part of an opposition coalition. He used his platform to launch a phone-in show, which was streamed live on Facebook (the social network is popular with Malagasy of all ages). Baba realised people just wanted to talk about one thing: “Every time callers were complaining about power and water.” 

On September 18th 2025 Baba and his two co-hosts protested in front of Madagascar’s senate building. They wore plastic solar lanterns around their necks, and carried candles and jerry cans. Baba gave several interviews to the media, calling on the public to join a demonstration on September 25th. The following day, he and one of his colleagues were arrested and detained for several hours on charges of unlawful assembly.

Baba was popular with young people, who admired him as a provocateur as much as for his music. His arrest sparked outrage at university halls of residence around Antananarivo. Madagascar was no stranger to protests—but this time felt different. Earlier that month, students had watched events unfold in Nepal, where a movement led by Generation Z, the cohort born between 1997 and 2012, had dislodged the prime minister. Young people had caused the downfall of the regime in Bangladesh the year before, and had destabilised many more governments (those in Peru and Bulgaria would fall before the end of 2025). Although these young people lived thousands of miles apart, they shared certain characteristics: they were educated, digitally native and globally minded; and they felt stymied by cronyism, inequality and a lack of opportunity. Was it time for Madagascar’s reckoning?