Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Economy

Economy

Herat’s decorative glass industry on the brink of collapse

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Pajhwok, 2 November 2010 The historic decorative glass industry in western Herat province is teetering on the brink of collapse due to lack of market, officials said on Tuesday.

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Afghanistan jet fuel deals generate thick fog of mystery

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1 November 2010 This article originally from th Washington Post (but with a better headline here) describes how a 58-year-old Californian bar-and-burger owner turned his business, along with a young Kyrgyz partner, into a multinational jet fuel business that has received Pentagon contracts worth nearly $3 billion. Their companies, Mina Corp. and Red […]

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War is Business, who benefits?

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War is Business (blog), 27 October 2010 This blog presents the information from SIGAR’s latest report on contracting in Afghanistan is presented in “web-friendly tables”, listing which businesses got the US reconstruction contracts over the last few years.

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The Taliban’s secret weapon: security

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Le Monde diplomatique, Oct. 2010 Louis Imbert analyses the political economy supporting the Taleban and, moreover, gives concrete figures on how much contractors must pay to them on certain projects and puts the number of convois supplying NATO bases in Afghanistan at 6-8,000 per month, annual value: US$ 2.16 nn.

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Millions of Dollars for One-Year Roads

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Killid Newsletter, 11 October 2010 ‘The millions of dollars spent on constructing roads throughout Afghanistan are often cited as an achievement. The asphalting of 6000 kms of roads […] in the past nine years ought to have transformed the face of the country’ writes author Hamed Kohestani but ‘. That this has not happened is […]

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U.S. contractor accused of fraud still winning big Afghan projects

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McClatchy Newspapers, 19 September 2010 The US newspaper reports, that although the Louis Berger Group has been under investigation for ‘intentionally and systematically overbilling American taxpayers’, it was till able to pull in new contracts over 1.4 bn US dollar – so much about Afghan corruption. The article also provides background info about the company.

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Loaves, not bombs, pose significant threat

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Asia Times online, 17 September 2010 The two authors warn that Afghanistan ‘faces a serious food crisis, especially through the southern, eastern and central regions, which is adding to the burden for a war-ravaged nation’. The reasons are ‘a nationwide decrease in wheat output’, floods, drought and fires in neighbouring countries so that imports become […]

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Corruption Suspected in Airlift of Billions in Cash From Kabul .

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Wall Street Journal, 25 June 2010 Another interesting contribution on Afghanistan’s political economy. Here: The boxes of money taken out of the country.

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U.S.: DynCorp Oversight in Afghanistan Faulted

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IPS, 27 February 2010 A high-level investigation by two major US government agencies says that the State Department has completely failed to do any serious oversight of the private contractor DynCorp to whom they paid 1.6 billion dollars to provide police training.

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Officials puzzle over millions of dollars leaving Afghanistan by plane for Dubai

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Washington Post, 25 February 2010 In a cash exodus, estimated well over $1 billion a year flows mostly to Dubai, where many wealthy Afghans now park their families and funds, according to U.S. and Afghan officials

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In Afghanistan, signs of crony capitalism

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The Washington Post, 22 February 2010 Kabul Bank provides members of the Karzai family and his entourage with special deals and campaign support, moving money in unconventional ways.

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