Afghanistan Economic Outlook

June 2024

Afghanistan Economic Outlook, is a creative initiative of the Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization (AELSO) which reflects most important & the latest economic events that happened during a month in Afghanistan.

By reading this economic newsletter, that has designed in three languages (Pashto, Dari & English), you can get a wider overview of Afghanistan’s economic situation.

Camp to empower aspiring entrepreneurs held in Kabul

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Afghanistan Institute for Economic and Legal Studies on Thursday conducted an entrepreneurship camp aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, alleviating poverty, identifying talent and fostering entrepreneurial mindset.

Officials said 48 teams attended the entrepreneurship camp and after evaluations and voting, six teams went to the final stage and three teams will be announced as the final winners by the end of the day.

Head of the institute Mohammad Hanif Farzan said they will provide financial, educational and technical support to the winning projects in cooperation with national businessmen and the private sector.

Farzan claimed the camp was designed to spark creativity and innovative ideas and fight poverty, achieve economic development, sustainable employment and promote entrepreneurship in the country.

Chamber of Commerce and Investment officials welcomed the camp and said such programs were important to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs and achieve economic development.

“The Chamber of Commerce and Investment is ready to cooperate and welcomes the holding of such programs as a representative of the private sector,” ACCI legal advisor Abdul Salam Kohi explained.

It is worth noting that last year, the same institute also organized an entrepreneurship camp with the participation of 64 teams, of which 3 teams emerged as winners.

The Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization is a non-governmental and independent institution established in 2009. Its mission is to ” to promote and strengthen social justice, peace, pluralism, and human dignity in Afghanistan through focusing on market-oriented solutions and the rule of law in compliance with reformed Islamic values.”

China Has Expressed Interest in Lithium Mines: Ministry

The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum stated that Afghanistan’s lithium mines have not yet been contracted with any company.

Ministry spokesman Homayoun Afghan says that lithium mines are located in the provinces of Helmand, Nuristan, and Ghazni, and several countries, including China, are interested in investing in them.

Afghan said: “Lithium is one of Afghanistan’s strategic minerals. Although several companies, including Chinese companies, have shown interest, no contracts have been signed with anyone yet.”

Afghanistan is at the top of the list of countries with abundant lithium mines.

At the same time, some economic experts say that investment in lithium mines plays a significant role in increasing the country’s revenue.

Abdul Nasir Rashtia, an economic expert, said: “If we can carry out all the processing and production stages within the country, it can have a very high economic impact, creating job opportunities, generating revenue, and driving us towards economic growth.”

Another economic expert, Shakir Yaqubi, said: “If we proceed with foreign countries or contracting companies in a way that, apart from meeting our internal needs, brings substantial revenue from lithium to Afghanistan, it will be a good opportunity. Afghanistan’s lithium can provide better resources for the mining sector.”

Lithium, considered the most important energy storage element, is primarily used in modern technologies, especially in the manufacture of mobile phone batteries, electric cars, computers, and drone batteries.

Since the rise of the Islamic Emirate, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has emphasized transparent extraction of mines.

Afghanistan sells 20,000 tons of crude oil for $10.5 million

The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum on Sunday sold 20,000 tons of crude oil for $10.5 million, said acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum Shahabuddin Delawar.

Speaking at a bidding ceremony, he said the oil was extracted from the Angut area of the Amu Darya oil field and was sold to a local company.

Delawar added that bidding for the extraction and exploration of 11 oil and gas blocks across an area of 23,000 square kilometers in Herat province will be held in the near future.

According to him, contracts will also be awarded for oil extraction in Katwaz area of Paktika Province.

Based on the rules of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, the winning companies are obliged to process crude oil inside the country, as it would provide job opportunities to locals.

Meanwhile, Delawar said that they are committed to using professional companies in the mining sector.

Commerce ministry steps up efforts to grow export market

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry says that they have increased marketing efforts for domestic products to be sold on global markets.

Officials said markets of Central Asia and Russia are viable markets for Afghan goods and that they are trying to hold expos in these countries.

They also said that large expos of Afghan products will be held in Uzbekistan, Russia and Kazakhstan in the near future. Nooruddin Azizi, the acting minister of commerce and industry, said his ministry has increased marketing efforts in order to supply foreign markets with domestic products. He said Central Asia and Russia have proved to be stable markets for local goods.

Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) said there is no doubt that the markets of Central Asia and Russia are among the best markets for exported goods, but that the Islamic Emirate should pave the way for more exports and for technical issues to be resolved.

Economic experts believe that the marketing of Afghan products in global markets is one of the most important responsibilities of the relevant institutions in the government so that Afghanistan’s trade with other countries can flourish.

Afghanistan currently has good trade relations with Central Asian countries, and if these relations expand, more goods will be exported from Afghanistan, experts have said.