Monocle
07/05/2008
By
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Ten ways to make a fortune in the fledgling nation:

01 Become a media mogul
Saad Mohseni is Afghanistan's answer to Rupert Murdoch, running a television and radio network that reaches all the country's major cities and packs a political punch.

02 Construction
Property is a winner, especially if you can get foreign charities to pay through the nose for unfurnished houses with no power and intermittent water.

03 Restaurants
All those aid workers have to eat. Kabul has a thriving French restaurant -(L'Atmosphere - where you can order foie gras and Sancerre, as well as Thai, Lebanese and Indian dining options.

04 Drugs
Opium production makes up around a third of the Afghan economy. It is easy to transport, keeps well, and earns farmers good money.

05 Fashion
There's plenty of detail work to be done for those fast-fashion high-street brands. And also the skilled people to do it.

06 Security companies
In a land where everyone has a gun, you need one too. Team up with a local warlord. Create security incidents. Solve them.

07 Fruit and nuts
Afghanistan grows the world's best pomegranates and has forests of pistachios. Only problem is the road network that makes export tricky.

08 Telecoms
Landlines are a non-starter because of all the landmines, so Afghanistan leapt ahead into mobile telephony and wireless.

09 Gem smuggling
Emeralds, rubies, lapis lazuli.
During the war against the Soviets, the mujahadeen ran guns in exchange for gems and stili run the mines.

10 Bounty hunting
Supposedly, no one knows where Osama bin Laden is. If you can find him you'll get €18m.

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