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0501經濟  

 今日主題:Leaders--Business in Africa Making Africa work  商業讓非洲發展起來

 康康精選GRE&GMAT會考的主題,堅持每天精讀一定會進步的哦!!
 MP3音檔 (按右鍵可下載聽):喜歡的同學,幫忙推或按讚哦~~
http://xia2.kekenet.com/Sound/2016/04/ecob04291.mp3

 只有音檔怎夠,聽不懂地方,不用怕,康康幫你準備好中英文稿了:

 中英文稿:
Leaders--Business in Africa Making Africa work
商業讓非洲發展起來

The continent's future depends on people, not commodities
非洲的前途依賴人,而非大宗商品

“IS ANYONE here actually hoping to make any money, or are you all just trying to minimise your losses?”
“在座的有沒有任何人希望能賺到錢,還是大家都只是想把損失降到最低?”

The question, asked at a dinner in London for investors who specialise in Africa, showed how the mood has changed in the past year.
這個問題在倫敦一個為專事非洲投資的投資者舉辦的晚餐會上提出來,體現出過去一年的情緒變化。

The financiers around the table — mostly holders of African bonds — all said they were simply trying not to lose money.
在座的各位金融家大部分手中都持有非洲債券,他們都說自己只是想不要虧錢。

Only a few years ago people were queuing up to invest in Africa.
然而僅僅在幾年前,大家都還擠破頭要在非洲投資。

As recently as 2012 Zambia paid less than Spain to borrow dollars.
就在2012年,贊比亞美元貸款的利息比西班牙還低。

Private - equity funds dedicated to Africa raised record sums to invest in shopping malls and firms making everything from nappies to fruit juice.
專注投資非洲的私募股權基金籌得破紀錄的資金用於投資購物中心和企業,這些公司生產的產品從尿片到果汁一應俱全。

Business folk salivated at the prospect of selling to the fast - growing African middle class, which by one measure numbered 350 m people.
非洲的中產階級正在快速成長,一項數據顯示其人數可達3.5億,商界人士一想到這些人是他們未來的銷售對象便垂涎三尺。

Miners sank billions into African soil to feed China's appetite for minerals.
礦產公司也向非洲的土地中砸入數十億美元以滿足中國對礦產資源的需求。

Now investors are glum. In the short run, they are right to worry.
但現在投資者們個個愁容滿面。

In the long run, as our special report on African business shows this week, the potential rewards from a market of 1.2 billion people are too juicy to ignore, despite the risks.
短期來看,他們確實有理由擔心。長期來說,我們本週對非洲經濟的特別報導顯示,這個有著12億人口的市場潛在回報巨大不容忽視,儘管風險也不小。

From oil in the gears to sand in the wheels
從一路順風到磕磕絆絆

For decades, sentiment about Africa has followed commodity prices, rising and falling like a bungee - jumper at Victoria Falls.
數十年來,對非洲的投資情緒一直隨大宗商品價格波動,如同在維多利亞瀑布蹦極跳一樣忽上忽下。

The recent plunge has caused a 16% drop in sub - Saharan Africa's terms of trade ( the ratio of the price of its exports to that of its imports ).
最近大宗商品價格大跌已令撒哈拉以南非洲的貿易比率(出口商品與進口商品價格的相對價格比率)下降了16%。

Growth across the region will slow to about 3% this year, predicts the World Bank, down from 7-8% a decade ago. That is barely ahead of population growth of 2.7%.
世界銀行估計整個地區今年的經濟增長將會從十年前的7%到8%放緩至3%,勉強高於2.7%的人口增幅。

Nigeria and Angola, two big oil exporters, will probably need bail - outs from the IMF within a year.
石油出口大國尼日利亞和安哥拉恐怕年內就會需要IMF的緊急救助。

Yet Afro - pessimists should remember two things about commodity busts.
然而對非洲持悲觀情緒的人們就大宗商品價格大跌的問題需要記住兩點:

They don't last for ever. And they don't hurt everyone:
第一,價格不會永遠下跌;第二,不是所有人都從中受害。

17 African countries with a quarter of the region's population will show a net benefit from the current one, thanks to cheaper energy.
由於能源價格低廉,非洲有17個國家(佔非洲總人口四分之一)將會在這一輪大跌的情況下獲得淨收益。

More important, by focusing on the minerals markets it is easy to miss some big trends that are happening above ground — and these are mostly positive.
更為重要的是,過於關注礦產品市場會容易忽略礦產行業以外的一些大趨勢—而這些趨勢多數都令人樂觀。

The first is that Africa is far more peaceful than it was even a decade ago.
首先,非洲要比十年前太平多了。

The wars that ripped apart the Democratic Republic of Congo and sucked in its neighbours, causing millions of deaths, have largely been quelled. A few states, such as Somalia, South Sudan and the Central African Republic, are in chaos.
內戰曾一度令剛果民主共和國四分五裂,且波及多個鄰國,令數百萬人喪生。如今,戰火已基本平息。

But overall the risk of dying violently in Africa has tumbled.
還有一些國家,如索馬里、南蘇丹和中非共和國,仍然處於混亂之中。

The latest ranking of the world's most violent countries by the Geneva Declaration includes just two African states ( tiny Lesotho and Swaziland ) among its top ten.
但總體來說在非洲死於暴亂的危險已大為降低。《日內瓦宣言》最近列出的十個暴力情況最為嚴重的國家中,只有兩個是非洲國家(小國萊索托和斯威士蘭)。

Africa is also far more democratic than it was.
其二,非洲如今也更為民主了。

In the 1960 s, 1970 s and 1980 s, only one sub - Saharan government was peacefully voted out of office.
在上世紀六十、七十和八十年代,在撒哈拉以南非洲只有一個政府通過投票和平下台。

Now nearly all face regular elections, which are harder to rig thanks to social media. Voters have real choices — one reason why policies have improved.
現在幾乎各國都會定期選舉,而且在社交媒體的監督下,操縱選舉愈發困難。選民們有了真正的選擇—這也是政策有所改善的一個重要原因。

Old - style governments favoured nationalisation, printing money and ( in some cases ) rounding peasants up at gunpoint and forcing them onto collective farms.
老派的政府喜歡國有化、印製鈔票和(在有些情況下)用槍桿逼著農民加入集體農場。

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