Afghanistan's $3tn worth of natural assets in Taliban's control

New Delhi, Aug 20 China, already Afghanistan's largest foreign investor, is seen as likely to lead the race to help the country build an efficient mining system to meet its insatiable needs for minerals.

A follow-up report by the Afghan government in 2017 estimated that Kabul's new mineral wealth may be as high as $3 trillion, including fossil fuels.

To date, the Taliban have profited from the opium and heroin trade. Now the militant group effectively rules a country with valuable resources that China needs to grow its economy, DW reported.

In 2010, a report by US military experts and geologists estimated that Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, was sitting on nearly $1 trillion in mineral wealth, thanks to huge iron, copper, lithium, cobalt and rare-earth deposits.

Lithium, which is used in batteries for electric cars, smartphones and laptops, is facing unprecedented demand, with annual growth of 20 per cent compared to just 5-6 per cent a few years ago. The Pentagon memo called Afghanistan the Saudi Arabia of lithium and projected that the country's lithium deposits could equal Bolivia's — one of the world's largest.

Copper, too, is benefiting from the post-COVID global economic recovery — up 43 per cent over the past year. More than a quarter of Afghanistan's future mineral wealth could be realised by expanding copper mining activities.

While the West has threatened not to work with the Taliban after it effectively seized control of Kabul over the weekend, China, Russia and Pakistan are lining up to do business with the Taliban.

As the manufacturer of almost half of the world's industrial goods, China is stoking much of the global demand for commodities. Beijing — already Afghanistan's largest foreign investor — is seen as likely to lead the race to help the country build an efficient mining system to meet its insatiable needs for minerals.

"Taliban control comes at a time when there is a supply crunch for these minerals for the foreseeable future and China needs them," Michael Tanchum, a senior fellow at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, told DW.

"China is already in position in Afghanistan to mine these minerals."

Chinese state-run media, meanwhile, described how Afghanistan can now benefit from the country's massive Belt and Road Initiative

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor