Imports In 2022, Afghanistan imported $821k in Batteries, becoming the 167th largest importer of Batteries in the world. At the same year, Batteries was the 327th most imported product in Afghanistan. Afghanistan imports Batteries primarily from: United Arab Emirates ($426k), China ($363k), Australia ($11.1k), Belgium ($9.54k), and Turkey ($7.31k).
The main destination of Batteries exports from Afghanistan are: Slovakia ($688), Ireland ($548), Mozambique ($372), France ($168), and Switzerland ($85). The fastest growing export markets for Batteries of Afghanistan between 2021 and 2022 were Mozambique ($372) and Switzerland ($85).
The lithium found in Afghanistan is a crucial component of large-capacity batteries for electric vehicles and clean-energy storage systems. Copper, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements are also found in Afghanistan, all of which are crucial to the energy transition.
Around the time Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021, a boom shook the world’s lithium market. The mineral’s price skyrocketed eightfold from 2021 to 2022, attracting hundreds of Chinese mining entrepreneurs to Afghanistan.
A decade earlier, the U.S. Defense Department, guided by the surveys of American government geologists, concluded that the vast wealth of lithium and other minerals buried in Afghanistan might be worth $1 trillion, more than enough to prop up the country’s fragile government.
Afghanistan must limit dependence on investments driven mainly by external strategic interests. Maintaining control over its lithium reserves is equally critical, necessitating a robust national framework for extraction and processing.