The Taliban announces a significant milestone with the signing of seven contracts valued at $6.5bn for mineral extraction, marking their economic strategy for the first time since seizing power.
These contracts involve local firms, some with foreign partners from countries like China, Iran, and Turkey, and focus on mining iron ore, lead, zinc, and gold across four Afghan provinces: Herat, Ghore, Logar, and Takhar.
Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar Ahunda highlights the potential for job creation and economic improvement through these agreements, with thousands of new jobs expected.
International aid dependency
According to AP, Afghanistan heavily depended on international aid, covering nearly 80% of its budget, supporting critical sectors like healthcare, education, manufacturing, and government functions.
Similar to past Afghan governments, the Taliban sees the nation's untapped mineral resources as a potential source of revenue to support the country.
Afghanistan boasts rich resources, including bauxite, coal, chrome, copper, gemstones, gold, gypsum, iron ore, lead, lithium, marble, natural gas, oil, rare-earth elements, sulfur, talc, travertine, uranium, and zinc.
Taliban's prior resource deal
In January, the Taliban government finalized a $540mn agreement with China's Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co (CAPEIC) for oil extraction in the Amu Darya Basin, sparking controversy.
Follow Daryo's official Instagram and Threads pages to keep up to date on world news.
Comments (0)