Business
Price hike adds to humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan
Grain prices in Afghanistan have kept soaring due to the sanctions imposed by the United States and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, adding to the aggravated humanitarian crisis suffered by the Afghan people, CCTV reported.
Abdul Shukoor is a vegetable vendor who has been living at a hillside settlement named Demazang north of downtown Kabul for 20 years with his family.
Resulting from the poor living conditions on the hill, the local residents are suffering severe water shortage and therefore are forced to carry drinking water uphill with donkeys each day, read the report.
Frequent power outage is another issue upsetting the locals.
A China Central Television (CCTV) reporting crew has recently paid a visit to Abdul Shukoor’s home — a room measuring less than 10 square meters which houses 10 family members.
“I have two sons and six daughters. One of my sons died from illness. I can only make 5,000 to 6,000 Afghanis (around 56 to 67 U.S. dollars) each month, which is far from being enough to support the livelihood and subsistence of my family and to taking good care of my kids,” said Shukoor.
His late son passed away one month ago from cancer as a result of lacking money.
“My son who died was 18 years old this year. He was diagnosed with cancer a year ago and I don’t have enough money to take him to Pakistan or India for treatment. I lost my son because I don’t have money,” said Shukoor.
He said he borrowed a total of 300,000 Afghani (around 3,375 U.S. dollars) to take his son to doctors and now he has not paid the house rent for months. And the food price hike has added to the family’s hardship.
Some 19.7 million people, almost half of Afghanistan’s population, are facing acute hunger, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis conducted in January and February 2022 by Food Security and Agriculture Cluster partners, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and many NGOs.
The analysis also pointed out that the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to put pressure on Afghanistan’s wheat supply, food commodities, agricultural inputs, and fuel prices.
According to a grain ship owner named Shafi, the prices of rice and flour have more than doubled compared with six months ago.
“The rice price was some 70 to 100 Afghanis (around 0.8 to 1.1 U.S. dollars) per kg and it has now surged to about 150 to 200 Afghanis (around 1.7 to 2.2 U.S. dollars) per kg. The best quality rice is now sold at 180 to 200 Afghanis (about two to 2.2 U.S. dollars) per kg,” Shafi told the CCTV.
Following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August last year, the U.S seized seven billion U.S. dollars worth of frozen assets of the Afghan central bank, which has aggravated the humanitarian crisis in the country.
“The money frozen by the U.S. government belongs to the Afghan people. They should not have done that because the money is property of our people. What the U.S. cares about is only to maximize interests for itself, and it has done nothing conducive to the Afghan people. If they were here to help us, then why have we still been living in shabby houses like this and seeing nothing improved in our lives. The U.S. came here to pursue their own interests instead of helping the poor here,” said Shukoor.
Business
Afghanistan invites Turkish investors to expand joint investments
Participants stressed the importance of increasing private sector cooperation and creating new opportunities to boost trade and investment between Afghanistan and Türkiye.
A high-level Afghan business delegation, led by the Chairman of the Balkh Chamber of Commerce and Investment, Mohammad Ibrahim Ghazanfar, participated in the Afghanistan–Türkiye Joint Business Council meeting in Istanbul, calling for expanded joint investment and stronger economic cooperation between the two countries.
According to a statement from the Balkh Chamber of Commerce and Investment, Ghazanfar invited Turkish investors and industrialists to explore investment opportunities across various sectors in Afghanistan, emphasizing the country’s potential for mutually beneficial partnerships.
The meeting brought together business leaders, investors, and private sector representatives from both Afghanistan and Türkiye to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral trade and economic ties.
During the event, several cooperation agreements were signed between Afghan and Turkish economic institutions. The agreements are aimed at expanding commercial relations, promoting joint investment projects, and enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries.
The meeting was chaired by Süleyman Güllü, Chairman of the Türkiye–Afghanistan Joint Business Council, and was attended by Mohammad Akbar Azimi, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Consul General in Istanbul, along with a number of businessmen and investors from both countries.
Participants stressed the importance of increasing private sector cooperation and creating new opportunities to boost trade and investment between Afghanistan and Türkiye.
The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening bilateral trade, investment, and business cooperation between India and Afghanistan.
The agreement was signed in New Delhi by Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General of ASSOCHAM, and Sayed Mohammad Karim Hashemi, Chairman of ACCI, during a meeting between business leaders from the two countries, ASSOCHAM said in a statement.
The Afghan delegation, led by Hashemi, held discussions with Nirmal Kumar Minda, President of ASSOCHAM, and other officials on ways to expand bilateral trade, investment flows, and private-sector cooperation.
According to ASSOCHAM, the MoU seeks to strengthen institutional collaboration, promote business-to-business linkages, and facilitate greater trade and investment opportunities between India and Afghanistan.
The organization said it remains committed to fostering stronger economic ties and creating new avenues of cooperation between the business communities of both countries.
Kazakhstan has signed a major zinc ore supply agreement with an Afghan company as the two countries continue to expand economic cooperation and trade ties.
According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration, the contract was signed between Kazakhstan’s ShalkiyaZinc and Afghanistan’s Afghan German Bakhtar Company during the opening of the Kazakhstan Trade House in Kabul.
The signing took place as part of an official business mission led by Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy, Serik Zhumangarin.
Under the agreement, Afghan German Bakhtar Company will supply approximately 30,000 tons of zinc ore annually on DAP (Delivered at Place) terms. The ore will be used as raw material for the production facilities of Kazakhstan’s Kazzinc. The total value of the contract is estimated at $18.88 million.
The deal marks a significant step in diversifying trade relations between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan, moving beyond traditional agricultural exports into the mining and industrial sectors.
“Afghanistan today is a market of opportunities,” said Kanat Kudaibergen, Chairman of the Board of GWM Capital LTD. He noted that while Kazakhstan’s exports to Afghanistan have historically consisted mainly of flour, grain, sunflower oil, and other agricultural products, demand is increasingly growing for machinery, equipment, and service solutions in agriculture, construction, and mining.
Kudaibergen expressed confidence that the newly established Trade House in Kabul would serve as an important platform for developing new business projects and expanding Kazakhstan’s non-resource exports.
The agreement follows recent discussions between Kazakh officials and Afghanistan’s leadership, including Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akhund and Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar, during which Kazakhstan expressed interest in sourcing zinc ore from Afghanistan.
Preparations for the deal began last year when specialists from Tau-Ken Samruk visited Afghanistan’s Bamyan province to assess the Pami-Kakrak zinc deposit. Samples collected during the visit were later analyzed by Kazzinc, which confirmed the feasibility of processing the ore at Kazakh facilities.
Economic relations between the two countries have been steadily strengthening. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of National Economy reported that bilateral trade reached $541.8 million in 2025. Both governments have set an ambitious target of increasing annual trade turnover to $3 billion in the coming years.
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