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The Women Running Businesses Under Taliban Rules

From The Straits Times · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • Despite facing severe restrictions under Taliban rule, Afghan women have increasingly turned to entrepreneurship as a means of economic survival and social engagement.
  • Over 10,000 women hold business licenses, with an estimated 120,000 more working without them, making small businesses the largest employers of Afghan women.
  • Many women have shifted from professional aspirations like law or engineering to fields such as carpet weaving, driven by the need to support their households and find a semblance of social life.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban have implemented some of the world's most stringent restrictions on women and girls. However, to avert economic collapse and international isolation, they have permitted women to establish businesses, provided they adhere to a complex set of restrictive rules. This has led to a notable increase in female entrepreneurship.

According to the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, more than 10,000 Afghan women possess business licenses, a tenfold increase over the past five years. The World Bank estimates an additional 120,000 women operate businesses without licenses, making small enterprises the primary employers of Afghan women. Despite this apparent boom, the opportunities for women's lives are significantly narrowing.

The only remaining hope for women in Afghanistan is business.

— Behnaz SaljughiA representative for female business owners in Herat province, describing the importance of entrepreneurship for women.

Women who once dreamed of careers in fields like law, engineering, or university professorships have redirected their ambitions toward carpet weaving, cosmetics, or vocational training. This shift is due to prohibitions on working in government administration and for many non-profit organizations. They are also barred from running beauty salons, studying midwifery or nursing, and interacting with male clients, suppliers, or banking officials.

I fell into depression. At home, you see the same faces all the time.

— Nasira AziziDescribing her feelings after the Taliban banned girls from education beyond sixth grade.

The majority of Afghan women are not employed; as of 2024, less than 7 percent were in the workforce, according to the UN Development Program. Those who do work face escalating challenges, including harassment and arrests by the morality police, which sparked rare public protests in June. Nevertheless, as the Taliban's return to power approaches its five-year mark, Afghan women are increasingly embracing entrepreneurship as one of the last avenues to support their families and maintain a degree of social interaction.

Nasira Azizi, a 19-year-old representative for female business owners in Mazar-e-Sharif, exemplifies this trend. She started a rug workshop with support from the UN Development Program, creating jobs for women expelled from Iran and Pakistan. Azizi, who was barred from education beyond sixth grade when the Taliban returned, found her workshop provided a vital social outlet and motivation. She now manages about 450 workers across two workshops and home-based operations, handling management, human resources, and finances, with her business license registered under her name.

Here, there are at least more topics to discuss, more motivation to get the job done.

— Nasira AziziExplaining the social benefits of working in her rug workshop.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Straits Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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