Taliban Administration Reports 350 Active Mining Contracts and Employment of Over 100,000 People
Hedayatullah Badri, Taliban-appointed Minister of Mines, announced on Wednesday during the opening ceremony of the first mining exhibition in Kabul that there are 350 active mining contracts across Afghanistan, 44 of which belong to large mines. He also claimed that more than 100,000 people are employed in the mining sector.
Taliban officials stated they are seeking to use mineral resources to strengthen the economy and develop the country, emphasizing that the revenue from mines will be used for the benefit of the people and the government. However, these claims come amid widespread concerns regarding the lack of transparency and proper oversight of mining operations, raising questions about how the sector is managed and its economic impact.
The exhibition was also attended by Nooruddin Azizi, acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, and Abdulsalam Hanafi, Deputy Administrative Head of the Prime Minister’s Office. Hanafi claimed that the investment environment in the mining sector has been established and stressed the necessity of legal mining operations. He added that land will be leased to both domestic and foreign investors for mining activities under Taliban administration supervision.
The acting Minister of Industry and Commerce called on foreign investors to invest in Afghanistan’s mining sector and emphasized proper and effective management of this process. These appeals come as Afghanistan’s mining industry has long faced security challenges, inadequate laws, and lack of infrastructure, leaving many Afghans deprived of the true benefits of their mineral wealth.
The holding of this exhibition and the emphasis on attracting investment occur even though the Taliban administration has so far failed to provide a suitable framework for the fair and transparent exploitation of Afghanistan’s mineral reserves. The mining sector continues to confront significant economic and managerial challenges.
