With the ouster of Taliban from Afghanistan in 2001, hopes for reconstruction of national infrastructures of Afghanistan including economy went high. But today, after almost a decade of international efforts, this country is highly dependent on international aids. There have improvements, no doubt, in all sectors but those are not significant enough and the Afghan economy has not undergone any important positive change.

Afghanistan falls in the list of countries trapped in the vicious circle of poverty. It is estimated that around 3/4 people in Afghanistan live below or slightly above the line of poverty. This makes them deprived of proper education, health facilities, good food and other basic necessities of life.

The international funds have poured in Afghanistan since the end of Taliban government. Of the billions of dollars of aid poured in Afghanistan, the poor section of Afghan society has gained very little or no benefit. Their lives are posed to various sorts of serious social, economic and political threats. Corruption, opium, insecurity and many other constraints are conceived key causes of little economic development of Afghanistan. Until and unless serious measures are in place for addressing the mentioned issues, Afghans are anticipated to remain extremely poor.

Afghanistan should not remain an economic burden on the shoulders of the world and fundamental steps should have been taken to make Afghan economy start standing on its own feet. Almost all development projects in Afghanistan are executed by funds donated by foreign countries. Afghan government does not possess financial capability to fund the development works of the country and hardly covers 3/4 percent of its operational costs.

The mineral resources are the only hope for Afghans to come out of poverty. Provided that the security improves, the mining sector is anticipated to create job opportunities beyond the needs of Afghanistan and would have positive impacts on the region. Afghanistan is rich in mineral resources. These sources have remained underutilized for centuries. The worth of mineral resources of Afghanistan has been estimated between one to three trillion dollars.

Afghanistan will move backwards instead of developing, if the problems like insecurity, corruption, nepotism, drug trafficking and lack of justice remain as they are. Afghanistan possesses high potentials for becoming economically self-reliant. The only need is to address the constraints and that is not possible without having a sincere and patriotic administration installed in Afghanistan.