Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Economy

Economy

Afghan cash buyers target Palm Jumeirah

admin •

Arabian Business, 14 February 2012 ‘An estimated $8bn is believed to have been stashed away in Dubai by Afghan investors in recent years, according to experts. “They come and spend cash and they know what they want. They are mainly looking for the Palm. Just right now, we have two or three big negotiations that […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Afghan Investors Scared by Kidnapping Wave

admin •

IWPR, 14 February 2012 Afghan businessmen claim that police and relatives of powerful officials have been linked to a wave of kidnapping and killing of colleagues. The Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ACCI, says 85 of its members have been killed or abducted since late March 2011, 20 more than in the preceding 12 […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Was $73 bn of Afghan aid wasted?

admin •

Politico, 12 January 2012 A former US auditor throws a telling light on US aid (in-)effectiveness, pointing out that USAID ‘has struggled’ to keep NGOs (probably those famous for-profit NGOs) overhead costs ‘under 70 per cent’ and that ‘NGO’s raw accounting data is unaudited and unverified’. He also estimates that up to 15 per cent […]

Recommended Reads Read more

US cuts put British-backed Afghan hydropower project in doubt

admin •

Guardian, 12 December 2011 Jon Boone reports about further possible set-backs for one of the signature infrastructure projects in southern Afghanistan.

Recommended Reads Read more

The International Community’s Engagement in Afghanistan beyond 2014

AAN Team •

This new discussion paper by the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) discusses the challenges for transition and the cost of a hasty and unconditioned international withdrawal. It particularly focuses on security, economy, political framework, reconciliation, governance, human rights and regional politics. The report, which is a result of the collaboration of key AAN contributors, emphasizes that […]

Special Reports Read more

Hope Amid Chaos: Mineral Resources & Afghanistan’s Economic Future

admin •

Muftah, 31 October 2011 Article by IWA’s Javed Noorani discusses the opportunities, risks and pitfalls surrounding the extraction of Afghanistan’s mineral resources.

Recommended Reads Read more

Zalmay Khalilzad’s not-so-excellent Afghan oil adventure

admin •

Foreign Policy (Oil & Glory), 6 October 2011 Zalmay Khalilzad and his son Alexander Bernard, who head Gryphon Capital Partners and who teamed up with Tethys Petroluem to bid for the Shiberghan oil fields, now complaining that the deal went to the Chinese.

Recommended Reads Read more

The Great Hindukush Gold Rush (2): Afghanistan is not Chad (yet?)

Thomas Ruttig •

There is plenty of evidence from all over the world that indicates that mineral wealth can easily turn into a curse – environmentally, socially, politically and even economically. It also can exacerbate conflict, instead of alleviating it. A particular example is the Central African country of Chad*, and it should warn both the Afghan government […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

The Great Hindukush Gold Rush (1): Another Silver Bullet

Thomas Ruttig •

When last year the not-so-new news hit the headlines that Afghanistan possesses enormous mineral resources, a lot of eyes started to shine with joy. Some Afghan and foreign officials believe that they finally have found the Holy Grail for post-2014 Afghanistan: a resource from which the country can pay its own security and development costs, […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Afghan Lawmakers Seek Audit of Second Bank

admin •

Wall Street Journal, 12 July 2011 Afghan parliamentarians pushed the government of President Hamid Karzai for a forensic audit of the country’s second largest lender, Azizi Bank, to search for what they said could be financial improprieties.

Recommended Reads Read more

Do the maths: victory cannot be bought in Afghanistan

admin •

The National (UAE), 1 July 2011 Some pretty interesting figures in this one: US military providing air conditioning for its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan comes out at $20 billion a year, more than the total budget of Nasa; by the time fuel reaches the US bases in Afghanistan, it costs $8 to $12 a […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Subscribe to receive updates from the Afghanistan Analysts Network

Sign up