Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy Page: 64 of 80
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Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy
Brussels Conference. Donors met again to assess progress on the TMAF benchmarks and pledged
more funds for Afghanistan at a donors meeting in Brussels on October 4-5, 2016. The
conference welcomed Afghanistan's new "National Peace and Development Framework" and its
efforts to fight corruption. At the conclusion of the meeting, donors announced pledges of $15.2
billion for the period of 2017-2020 (about $5 billion per year), of which about 20% will be
provided by the United States.
Among multilateral lending institutions, the World Bank has been key to Afghanistan's
development. In May 2002, the World Bank reopened its office in Afghanistan after 20 years. Its
projects have been concentrated in the telecommunications and road and sewage sectors. The
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also been playing a major role in Afghanistan, including in
financing railway construction. The ADB funded the paving of a road from Qandahar to the
border with Pakistan and contributed to a project to bring electricity from Central Asia to
Afghanistan. On the eve of the London donor's conference of January 28, 2010, the IMF and
World Bank announced $1.6 billion in Afghanistan debt relief.
Development in Key Sectors
Efforts to build the legitimate economy are showing some results, by some accounts. Some
sectors, discussed below, are being developed primarily (although not exclusively) with private
investment funding. Private investment has been the main driver of much of the new construction
evident particularly in Kabul, including luxury hotels; a $25 million Coca Cola bottling factory
(opened in September 2006); apartment and office buildings; and marriage halls and other
structures. The bottling factory is located near the Bagrami office park (another private initiative),
which includes several other factories. The Serena luxury hotel was built by the Agha Khan
foundation, a major investor in Afghanistan. A multi-billion dollar development near the Kabul
airport, called "New Kabul City," has been constructed.
An arm of DOD, called the Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO), sought to
facilitate additional private investment in Afghanistan. However, A SIGAR report of November
2014 assessed that the Task Force's efforts yielded very little result. The TFBSO concluded its
operations in March 2015 after its authorities expired the previous year. Funding for the Task
Force is included in Table 11 at the end of this report.
Uncertainty about the post-2014 political and security situation caused some Afghan businessmen
to relocate outside the country, or to develop external components of their business in case the
situation in Afghanistan deteriorates. The following sections outline what has been accomplished
with U.S. and international donor funds and private investment.
Education
Continuing Taliban attacks on schools have caused some ("over 1,000" according to a January
2017 address by the acting Minister of Education)34 to close and hindered efforts to enroll
Afghan students. While most sources give a figure of 9 million children enrolled in school, the
January 2017 SIGAR report relays a December 18, 2016, interview with the Afghan Minister of
Education, who said that "after adjusting numbers for more than three million permanently absent
registered students from school records, only six million students were actually attending classes
in Afghanistan." Afghanistan's university system is said to be highly underfunded, in part because
Afghans are entitled to free higher education (to the B.A. level) by the Constitution, which means
134 "More Than 1,000 Schools Closed Across Afghanistan," Tolo News, January 2, 2017.Congressional Research Service
59
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Katzman, Kenneth & Thomas, Clayton. Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, report, October 2, 2017; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1042292/m1/64/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.