The Future of Startups in Afghanistan
There was a time when all of us had high hopes for the future of Afghanistan. Most citizens were determined to stay in the country - some to survive and others to create their ideal havens.
I was also confident to remain and leave Afghanistan at no cost. In 2018, I established a media and technology company. And I continued to invest my earnings in new ventures. I built a co-working space (coworthy.com), a payment solution (wasalpay.com), an online bookstore (kabulreads.com) and many more by reinvesting my profits into these small startups.
Despite years of hardship and our battle with challenges created by the government and the private sector, we succeeded and continued to expand and create more jobs. But it all changed when the U.S. government announced its decision of a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan.
As of the writing of this article, most of the U.S. forces have abandoned Afghanistan, including a complete withdrawal from the Bagram base — which was one of the biggest U.S. and NATO bases in Afghanistan. On the other hand, the Taliban have been rapidly advancing and occupying more places. The Taliban claim to have taken control of over 85% of the Afghan territory (reported by the Guardian).
The U.S. troops withdrawal and the Taliban advancing at this pace have created uncertainty among Afghan citizens. Especially among the business community.
At our co-working space, we are home to many startups and Afghan entrepreneurs. Among them is an Afghan lady (not her real name) who runs a technology company. She has eight people working for her company, each person supports a family of six or more. The majority of her clients are from abroad, whereas those companies outsource to save on cost. She is not only worried to manage and sustain her business but also the ongoing chaos in the country which is a direct threat to people like her.
This morning, she came to me and said, “I have invested my time and money to build this startup. But the current situation makes me worry. Mr. Rahim, what do you think is going to happen? Shall I continue to run this startup, or shall I quit?”.
For a moment, I was stunned and did not have an answer to provide. I did not want to give her high hopes and then end up ruining her life and business. She was worried about a possible civil war in the country. And the fact that women will no longer be able to work under the new Taliban-led regime.
I said, look, we can’t end our years of effort because of the stories we hear around us. I hope nothing goes wrong after the 31st of August, 2021 (U.S. troops withdrawal date). But even if things do go wrong, it’s not worth quitting today. There is so much construction happening and other mega-projects around us. If things were about to go wrong, all of this should have stopped — I am confident the politicians have some involvement in these mega-projects. They would never let their money go to waste. The only good time to completely close down would be after seeing these constructions coming to an end.
Like Nadia, there are tens and hundreds of other entrepreneurs that are uncertain about their future. Though there are no or very few international organizations for these startups to serve; the private sector has immensely grown since 2014 and that’s where these startups are willing to conduct business.
If the Afghan government does not secure an agreement with the Taliban. I am afraid the private sector will no longer exist. It will not only be a challenge for women to work in Afghanistan but also for men-owned businesses to survive and provide jobs.
For decades, the Afghan leaders have failed to come to an agreement for the greater good; this time, it can be no different. While still being uncertain about the future of startups and Afghanistan in general, the majority of the entrepreneurs are determined to continue investing their time and money.
— — — — — — Update 4/17/2023 — — — — — —
The Taliban took over the Afghan government in August 2021, which led to many businesses being closed down and people fleeing the country. I had to close down my businesses due to a lack of funds including the coworking space, payment solution, audiobook app, and consulting business after maintaining them for two years. Unfortunately, many other businesses also shut down and laid off their employees due to frozen assets by the new government and banks not providing any help. Moreover, I was wrong to anticipate that Kabul will not fall to the Taliban.
