Afghanistan (Part Two): The Saudi Arabia of Lithium

Feb 17, 2021 | Greg Mills
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Whatever the doubts about the future path of its politics and concerns over ratcheting levels of violence, donors remain committed to Afghanistan, for now.

The 2020 Conference in Geneva pledged more than $12-billion for the period 2021-24. While this represents a drop of 20% over the $15.2 billion pledged in Brussels in 2016, and below projections for the country’s needs, it’s an indication that no-one intends, for now, to cut their losses and run.

This money is enough to keep things running, but is a sign of the times and a reminder of the need for a “normal” economy at some point to take over in Afghanistan from the “aid” one.

Between 2001 and 2019, the intentional community in Afghanistan exceeded two million, an annual average of 134,000 personnel. These people expended over 33 million working days and 247 million working hours each year in Afghanistan. Was this not enough; or is this never enough? Or did those put to the task of getting the economy up and running do a bad job?

The answer lies somewhere in between.