Business
Western Union, MoneyGram resume services to Afghanistan
Western Union Co and MoneyGram International Inc resumed money-transfer services to Afghanistan on Thursday, moves in line with a U.S. push to allow humanitarian activity to continue after the Taliban’s takeover, Reuters reported.
According to the report pair suspended services in Afghanistan more than two weeks ago after the Islamist militia captured Kabul at lightning speed.
But an easing of security concerns following the completion of the Taliban’s conquest of the country opened the way for the reopening this week of banks, which the money-transfer firms rely on to dispense and collect funds.
Jean Claude Farah, Western Union’s president in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told Reuters the reopening of banks, plus a push by the United States to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, had given the American company confidence to resume services on Thursday.
“Much of our business involving Afghanistan is low-value family and support remittances that support basic needs of the people there, so that’s the grounding that we have and why we want to reopen our business,” Farah said.
“We’ve engaged with the U.S. government, which has conveyed that allowing humanitarian activities, including remittances, to continue are consistent with U.S. policy.”
The flow of funds from migrant workers overseas is a key lifeline for many Afghans and has helped the economy of one of the world’s poorest nations weather years of violence and instability. The United Nations says about half of the population requires aid amid the second drought in four years, Reuters reported.
In a statement, MoneyGram said following guidance from the U.S. government, it was resuming its services in coordination with its partners in the country and the Afghanistan Banks Association.
“We recognize that remittances play a pivotal role in the livelihood and daily needs of the Afghan people,” MoneyGram said.
According to Reuters yet U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has said it is committed to allowing humanitarian work to continue in Afghanistan.
“We are continuing to engage with the U.S. government and others to understand their policies and what type of longer term regulatory framework will be put in place as it relates to the Taliban,” Western Union’s Farah said.
Remittances to Afghanistan reached $789 million in 2020, around 4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), the World Bank estimated, down from $829 million in 2019.
Such flows have historically played an important role in supporting financial stability. Along with international grants and resilient exports, remittances helped Afghanistan’s current account surplus reach 14.2% of GDP in 2020, the International Monetary Fund said in June.
In recent days, Afghanistan’s central bank has provided funds of hundreds of thousands of dollars to each bank that requested liquidity, a senior banker told Reuters. But the financial system and economy could be in peril unless the Taliban can access the central bank’s roughly $10 billion in assets, which are mostly outside of the country.
Farah said Western Union had been assured by the banks it partners with in Afghanistan that they had sufficient cash to pay receivers of remittances.
“Some of them have indicated at some locations that they have good liquidity in afghani and at least some liquidity in U.S. dollars as well, we allow payouts in both, to resume remittances,” he added.
Before it shut down services on Aug. 16, around 45% of each transaction sent via Western Union to Afghanistan was $200 or less, he said.
Western Union said on Thursday that payouts of any funds sent to Afghanistan were available in select locations. Outbound services, money sent from there to other countries, remained suspended, it added.
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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