September 2015
Supplement
HBS Case Collection

Kaweyan: Female Entrepreneurship and the Past and Future of Afghanistan (B)

By: Geoffrey Jones and Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:3

Abstract

This (B) case takes up the story of the Afghan female entrepreneur Kamila Sidiqi between 2009 and 2015. The case opens with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praising her achievements at a State Department dinner in March 2015 for the newly elected President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani. It describes the growth of her Kaweyan firm, which diversified into dried fruit processing and a cab service, against a background of some economic and social progress, but also continuing economic, social, and security challenges in the country. In October 2014 President Ghani asked Kamila to become Presidential Deputy Chief of Staff, a position that she accepted. The (B) case can be used in conjunction with the (A) case to explore the issue of whether entrepreneurship alone can significantly overcome the many challenges faced by post-conflict countries such as Afghanistan, or whether improvements in institutional frameworks are a pre-condition.