By Rakesh Neelakandan
Nobody knows how rich Afghanistan is!
A war-torn nation, grappling with huge problems--which are so intricately intertwined, that disentangling them looks to be a herculean task--solutions for the same seem to be ever evading.
A country where violence is the norm, where aid agencies have lost count of human casualties, where corruption is rampant (famine hit Somalia is the only country that beats Afghanistan in Transparency International ranking of worst corrupt countries), where the infrastructure is damn poor, where kids respond better to gun shots than black boards, one would think Afghanistan is the wrong place to do business.
Wrong!
Afghanistan is evolving as a business hotspot where a mining boom is very much in the offing and India, China, Russia, Germany, UK and US are all warming up to the great Afghan challenge! Going by the estimates of various agencies, Afghan mineral wealth can hover around $1 trillion in value.
Since antiquity, Afghanistan has been shelling out gems and semi-precious stones, metals, and marble. When the Soviet forces entered Afghanistan and continued with their notoriously disastrous occupation, somewhere on the course, they also identified huge mineral wealth.
They even set up some industrial mining units in 1970s but had to abandon the efforts in 1992 when Mujahideen terror gained prominence with US support.
In 2002, the US Geological Survey estimates proclaimed presence of more treasures in Afghanistan: there were over 1000 deposits, mines and occurrences in Afghanistan with presence of gold, copper, iron, mercury, lead, cesium, lithium, niobium, and tantalum in chunks.
Run up to the rush
In March 2011, a conference on mines of Afghanistan took place in London where a number of investors gathered.
During the same month after necessary discussions, ADB (Asian Development Bank) officially announced that they have agreed to allocate funds worth $25mn dollars for construction of Hydrogen Sulfide Separation machinery for Jarqduq gas basins, $165 mn dollars for Sheberghan gas pipeline and development of gas network, and, $35 mn for rehabilitation of gas wells of Sheberghan in Afghnistan.
ADB also promised to support gas project after the completion of MoM (Ministry of Mines) plan for TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India), extension of cables for convection of thermo electricity from Sheberghan to Mazar and joining it with main network as well as building of second phase of 227 Km railway from Mazar to Andkhoi, which will be useful for mining sector.
Subsequently, Australia, the commodity country, expressed their willingness to share their expertise in mining sector with Afghanistan.
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd met with the Afghan Minister of Mines, Wahidullah Shahrani and said,
“The surge in the Afghan mining sector has enormous potential to improve the country’s economic sustainability. Australia’s expertise in mining exploration, extraction, processing, transport, environmental protection and legislation has Australia well placed to offer specialized education in this area.”
Afterwards, to attract Italian investment to infrastructure, construction, energy, agriculture and mining sectors, a summit took place at Herat in Afghanistan followed on by similar initiatives getting kick started with Turkey and Germany.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation in development of Afghanistan natural resources was signed by Afghanistan and Germany at the end of June visit by Wahidullah Shahrani to Germany.
According to the MOU, both sides will strive to encourage both the private and public sectors of Germany to invest in Afghanistan’s mining sector and related activities.
Germany will strengthen its cooperation in technical and financial assistance, provide training programs for Afghan geologists, establish training centers in the fields of hydrocarbons and minerals, provide technical support for preparing strategies, strengthen the extractive sector by improving transparency in revenue transactions, introduce accepted financial systems and encouraging sustainable use of natural resources.
Further, India has agreed to contribute extensively to establish the first National Institute of Mine in Kabul.
Special regiment with personnel of 7,000 policemen for security of mines was also created as an internal arrangement between interior ministry and mining ministry of Afghanistan.
Recently, a comprehensive plan for building railways in Afghanistan based on economic criteria was welcomed at a special conference in Paris.
Add to this, The Geological Data Center of Afghanistan, equipped by modern technology and with very high capacity for storage of data; the picture becomes clear.
In accordance with the programs undertaken by the Ministry of Mines, Afghanistan’s coffers are expected to receive about $1.5 billion. Wahidullah Shahrani, the Minister of Mines, said recently to Parliament: “although exploration of mines in Afghanistan needs the time and technology, the assignment of mining contracts to international companies will increase the income of Afghanistan."
