(Financial Times) – Surging imports of the straw-coloured energy drink – now a staple at wedding parties thrown by the Kabul elite – are emblematic of Afghanistan’s galloping economy. They also signal danger: the booming business of war has fed a rise in consumption without fostering enough of the private investment needed to underpin more durable growth.

On the surface, the economy has changed radically since the overthrow of the Taliban: cities are clogged with imported Toyotas, gleaming towers have mushroomed in Kabul, donors have revamped the road network and new media empires are thriving. Gross domestic product expanded by an average of 9.1% between 2003 and 2010, according to the World Bank.

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