Last updated on August 29th, 2024 at 06:11 pm
Three years since the so-called end of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, the country’s economy is at a standstill. The United Nations says that one-third of Afghanistan’s estimated 40 million people are barely surviving on bread and tea. Meanwhile, the World Bank is predicting zero economic growth for the next three years.
However, compared to a year after the Taliban takeover in 2021, despite the illegitimate government, as it is not recognized by any other nation, there are some brightening prospects:
The Afghan currency has remained stable, corruption has notably decreased, and tax collection has improved. Besides, “economic, commercial, transit and investment” links have been established with neighbors, according to Ahmad Zahid, Deputy Commerce and Industry Minister.
Afghanistan has a huge potential for development based on natural resources and agriculture. But the country’s government, the Taliban, tries to exploit that. The facts are that these efforts are constrained in large measure by underdeveloped infrastructure and domestic and foreign expertise and capital.
While most Afghans appreciate improved security in daily life, most are barely able to eke out a living. Here is what four people from around the country told AFP ahead of the anniversary of the fall of Kabul:
“Now there is no problem,” said Rehmati, whose company exports to 27 countries. Despite such progress, Rehmati’s challenges are immense, particularly when it comes to banking. The banking sector in Afghanistan remains crippled due to international sanctions and a freeze on central bank assets.
Rehmati cannot send or receive money internationally at his bank, so he is reliant on the expensive private money changers in Dubai. Meanwhile, foreign travel visa issuance is still a major obstacle: several embassies closed their offices after the Taliban takeover, and the Henley Index, monitoring global ease of travel, ranked Afghan passports as the worst in the world.
“We will fall behind in the global market,” Rehmati worried.
The Out-of-Work Musician
Wahid Nekzai Logari, 46, once performed with Afghanistan’s national orchestra, playing concerts with a traditional stringed instrument called the sarinda and the harmonium. “I supported my whole family.
The Insurgent-Turned-Bureaucrat
Now, at 31, Abdul Wali Shaheen is trying to be a bureaucrat after having once sought martyrdom in the Taliban’s ranks. “I wasn’t as stressed then as I am today,” he said with a wry smile.
“We had only done jihad, but it has become more difficult now. Yet, his monthly salary of 10,000 Afghanis keeps his five-person family afloat, and he remains hopeful about the country’s future. “I give the Emirate a 10 out of 10 for these three years,” he said. “Everything is going well. We have hope for the future.”
The Hidden Beautician
The order to close beauty salons last year “just broke her heart,” but Sayeda — not her real name — secretly reopened her salon four months ago in another part of Kabul. “We found this place to rent, with the condition that customers come very discreet and that some of our employees sleep here so that neighbors think a family lives here,” said the 21-year-old manager.
Before the closure, this salon would cater to 30 to 40 customers daily, but now it caters to only six or seven. Sayeda kept her 25 employees in service so that everybody gets some money.
