At times when the economic stability of Afghanistan is highly dependent on aids from international community, experts maintain and emphasize that extraction industry can serve as pillars on which a strong economy can be built. Studies have estimated the worth of Afghan minerals in several trillion dollars. This has changed the traditional view about Afghan economy which was majorly based on agriculture.

Agriculture sector is what on which the Afghan economy was once highly dependent. Nonetheless, at least in the post-Taliban Afghanistan this sector has had no significant development. Let alone self-sufficiency, major portion of our food needs are fulfilled by imports from various countries of the world.

This has made Afghanistan a highly consuming country while the local production has been very low. The condition of industrial sector is also the same. Except some factories producing beverages, Afghanistan has no major products. While on the agriculture side, Afghanistan has only one major export which is the dry fruits. Reasons are quite clear. Government’s lack of willingness to resolve issues facing farmers and factory owners still persists. There have been no efforts aimed at boosting industrial or agricultural sector through strategic, short, medium or long term planning. 

Will the government do the same to the mining sector? The Afghanistan mineral resources are deemed to change this country’s status from ‘very poor’ to ‘rich.’ This is conceived that, the mining sector will create job opportunities more than the real needs of Afghanistan. Although insecurity is considered the biggest obstacle for extraction of Afghan minerals, efforts are underway for extracting deposits located in comparatively secure provinces of Afghanistan like Bamiyan.

But the government needs plan for facilitating extraction of the country’s mineral resources through a clear and transparent mechanism. Insecure and troubled highways and absence of rail routes form another part of challenge facing the extraction of mineral resources of Afghanistan. Apart from the security concerns hindering development of the mining sector, unprofessional extraction of minerals and their smuggling to other countries have been a great national loss. Reportedly, the Afghan government is losing millions of dollars each year because of not being able to prevent illegal transfer of precious stones to our neighboring countries. Not only strict security should be considered for these resources but also they should be extracted in a proper, transparent and effective way.