Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, nearly 2,000 factories across Afghanistan have shut down as factory owners struggle under the combined pressure of a collapsed banking system, decrease in purchasing power, and a drop in international investments. The dire economic situation is hitting business owners and their employees hard.
Farhad Safi had a flourishing saffron export business before the Taliban came to power in August 2021. His young company, which was started in 2019, could not survive the Taliban takeover.
"When Taliban came to Kabul everything stopped. There is no DHL, there is no Fedex, so right now we cannot send anything from Afghanistan to outside. The money of the saffron we were selling in USA cannot be sent by my partner to Afghanistan, and we cannot take the money from the banks," said Safi.
In Kabul, more than a 1,000 private businesses have closed since August 2021. But a few did manage to survive, such as Safe Pad Prosperity, a social enterprise manufacturing reusable sanitary napkins. But with orders declining, employees are now paid only 5,000 Afghanis, or about 54 euros a month, about half of what they made before last August.
"When the Taliban took over, we were closed for two months. Then we reopened but we import our raw material from India and direct deliveries have stopped. So everything goes through Dubai and then comes here. That means it costs more and takes longer to get delivered. The other difficulty is that the prices of everything have increased in Afghanistan,” explained Safe Pad Prosperity owner Arezo Osmani.
Some businesses though did not survive the takeover.
In Kabul’s commercial Shar-e-Now district, karaoke restaurants remain shut eight months after the Taliban came to power.
Noor Mohammad Hussaini, a Kabul barber, says business has declined.
“Before, young people used to come here, they used to laugh, they used to have karaoke nights. There were concerts. It was very popular. But it's closed now. The Islamic Emirate has banned it," said Hussaini.
Hussaini has lost 60 percent of his business. “With the Islamic Emirate most of the men don't touch their beards. Some are still coming but just to get a haircut," he explained.
According to the World Bank, the Afghan economy is expected to further contract in the coming year.
