If the Taliban would ban it...

...maybe it's a Good Thing. Reality TV comes to Afstan (pity the story's in the Ottawa Citizen's Business section where a lot of people will miss it):

A reality TV show broadcast in Afghanistan has encouraged Afghans to start their own enterprises, stirring entrepreneurial spirit in a country that has been ravaged by three decades of war.

The program, Fikr wa Talash, (Dream and Achieve), is loosely based on the popular Dragons Den series, in which contestants pitch their business ideas to a panel of tycoons in return for cash for their companies.

The program, the latest in a series of popular reality shows that have taken Afghanistan by storm, is more than just entertainment. Its supporters hope that by encouraging small businesses, the program will help Afghanistan's economy become more self-reliant.

"Small and medium-sized businesses, which are by far the largest employer, be it small self-employed farmers selling a surplus or a shopkeeper, trader ... are the key to achieving such self reliance," said David Elliot, a development consultant for the program's makers.

"Yet business skills and thinking, such as financial planning, marketing, competitive strategy, are all relatively new concepts that are needed to create a stronger, more resilient and healthy private sector, capable of being the 'engine of growth' for the economy," added Mr. Elliot.

Decades of war have devastated the Afghan economy and infrastructure and Afghanistan is still one of the world's poorest countries despite receiving billions of dollars in international aid since 2001.

The Afghan government relies on aid for about 90 per cent of its total expenditure.

Unemployment stands at 40 per cent with 80 per cent of Afghanistan's labour force employed in agriculture. GDP per capita was just $1.000 in 2007.

The show's sponsors, including U.S. government aid agency USAID, saw the program as an opportunity to foster an entrepreneurial spirit among ordinary Afghans.

The first series ended last month with the final contestant winning $20,000 towards his plastic recycling business.

It was broadcast on Tolo TV, Afghanistan's most popular channel which also aired the hugely popular Afghan Star [see Update here], a homegrown version of the singing contests American Idol and Canadian Idol.

Reality TV shows have engrossed Afghans who, in the past, suffered a ban on television under the Taliban government of the late 1990s...