Afghan delivery men brave blast threats as online sales rise
KABUL: Afghan courier Sarajuddin stops his motorbike on a dirt road, here, and calls his customer for directions: “I am in the second street. Which way should I go now?”
As Afghans embrace online shopping, harried delivery men in the capital are increasingly running the gauntlet of security checkpoints, gridlocked traffic, and potholed roads — as well as the near-constant threat of blasts and attacks.
Lost in the city’s labyrinthine streets, Sarajuddin often arrives at his destination late, sometimes by several hours. He then has to endure the abuse of angry customers who have been waiting for their package.
“You never know how long it takes to reach an address in Kabul,” said the 24-year-old as he prepared to set off on what he hoped would be a quick delivery.
“An estimate of time and distance in Kabul can end up being totally wrong.”
It is a problem that is likely to worsen as more and more delivery men fight their way through the city to satisfy the country’s nascent e-commerce market.
In recent years, a new generation of entrepreneurs has tapped a small but growing online market — currently around eight million people, less than one-third of the population, can access the Internet.
Countless online stores offering everything from prayer beads to penis enlargement creams have appeared, many using popular social media networks such as Facebook to promote their products.
“We promise to deliver the product to a customer in an hour but then it takes two or more hours to find the address,” says Ahmad Asmar Faqiri, who recently launched Foodbooking, an online delivery service for eateries, here.
“It is a huge headache in Kabul. In most cases, even when you get to the areas, it takes our men an average of three phone calls to physically reach the customer.”
Adding to the woes of Kabul’s stressed-out delivery men is the absence of mobile payment, which means customers must pay cash on delivery.
In the meantime, couriers must carry cash with them, making them prime targets for robbers in a city beset by violence.
A Foodbooking courier was recently attacked on his way to a customer. The assailants beat him up before stealing his money, mobile phone and motorbike, said Faqiri.
The Afghan government hopes the embryonic e-commerce sector — which officials vaguely estimate to be worth “millions of dollars” — could help generate jobs in a country where unemployment hovers around 40 per cent.