外刊双语：在非洲做生意难吗？

原文标题：
Business in Africa
Of beer and banks
A Ghanaian brewery shows how hard life is for small businesses
在非洲做生意
啤酒和银行
加纳的一家啤酒厂揭露了小企业的艰难处境
 
Gaining access to finance is by far the biggest obstacle
获得融资渠道是迄今为止最大的障碍

[Paragraph 1]
“HAPPY 34TH BIRTHDAY, Tom”, exclaims the label on the beer bottle.
啤酒瓶上的标签上写着:“汤姆，34岁生日快乐。”
 
Underneath is a photo of the birthday boy, then an employee at the American embassy in Ghana, pulling a face that suggests he was not expecting any buttoned-up diplomats at his party.
下面是一张寿星的照片，他当时是美国驻加纳大使馆的一名雇员，脸上的表情表明他没想到会有拘谨的外交官出现在他的派对上。
 
Clement Djameh, a wisecracking Ghanaian brewer, makes the bespoke labels and the amber liquid inside.
克莱门特·贾米赫是一位爱说俏皮话的加纳啤酒酿造商，他制作了定制的标签和里面的琥珀色液体。
 
It is refreshing, tangy, and so strong that a second glass risks turning the afternoon into a haze.
它清爽、刺鼻，味道浓烈，喝第二杯就有可能醉了，使得整个下午都灰朦朦的。 
The surprise ingredient is locally grown sorghum.
令人惊讶的是原料竟是当地种植的高粱。
 
Mr Djameh is desperate to expand to meet demand, but his plans are badly stalled.
贾米赫不顾一切地想扩张以满足需求，但他的计划严重受阻。
 

[Paragraph 2]
Those running businesses in sub-Saharan Africa, even in relatively prosperous countries such as Ghana, face a scarcely conceivable array of problems.
那些在撒哈拉以南非洲地区经营企业的人，即使是在加纳等相对繁荣的国家，也面临着一系列难以想象的问题。
 
Chief among them is access to finance.Alas, government and donor efforts to fix the problems often go awry.

最主要的问题是获得融资的渠道。可惜的是，政府和捐赠机构在解决这些问题方面常常会出错。
 
[Paragraph 3]
Mr Djameh has many advantages for a would-be brewing kingpin.
作为一个潜在的酿酒巨头，贾米赫有很多优势。
 
He studied beer-making in Munich and has worked for Ghana’s biggest brewers.
他在慕尼黑学习过啤酒制造，且在加纳最大的啤酒酿造商工作过。
 
Beer-glugging foreigners love his concoctions.
爱喝啤酒的外国人喜欢他调制的啤酒。
 
His microbrewery was Ghana’s first.
他的微型啤酒厂在加纳排名第一。
 
And his use of sorghum stemmed from his work on a multimillion-dollar government- and UN-backed project to reduce poverty by encouraging Ghanaian farmers to grow the grain to supply brewers.
他用的高粱来自于一个政府和联合国共同支持的数百万项目，该项目鼓励加纳农民种植谷物，以供应啤酒厂，从而减少贫困。
 
Ghana’s beer barons have been sniffy about using sorghum.

加纳的啤酒巨头们一直不屑于使用高粱。

 
Mr Djameh’s business offers a way to make something of the project.

贾米赫找到从这个项目中获利的方法。

 
[Paragraph 4]
To ramp up production from a mere 200 litres a batch in 2016, Mr Djameh began looking for about $400,000 to buy bigger brewing equipment and lots more kegs.

2016年酒厂每批产出200升啤酒，为了提高产量，贾米赫开始筹资约40万美元，以购买更大的酿酒设备和更多的酒桶。

 
He applied for an interest-free loan under a special scheme at a state bank and was approved, he says.

他说根据一项特殊政策，他在一家国有银行申请了一笔无息贷款，并获得批准。

But the bank then said it had no cash to lend.
但该银行随后表示并无现金可以借出。
 
The cheap-loan scheme was later changed into one that charged 10% interest.
无息贷款后来也变为收取10%利息的贷款。
 
That did not deter Mr Djameh, who was keen to reap economies of scale.

这并没有吓退渴望扩大酒厂规模的贾米赫。

“Breweries always make money,” he grins.
“啤酒厂总是能赚钱，”他笑道。
 
However, he balked when the loan officer wanted a 10% kickback, he says, adding: “If you’re not prepared to pay [and] you don’t have a strong political connection, you will not get the money.”
然而，在信贷员要求10%的回扣时，他犹豫了，他说:“如果你不准备付钱，你又没有强大的政治关系，你就拿不到钱。”
 
[Paragraph 5]
Ghana’s government is now broke and in talks with the IMF.
加纳政府现在已经破产，正在与国际货币基金组织协商具体事宜。
 
The central bank has increased its main interest rate to 24.5%.
中央银行已将主要利率提高到24.5%。
 
Borrowing costs on commercial loans are higher still.
商业贷款的借贷成本更高。
 
Even a brewer would find them prohibitive.
即使是酿酒师也会觉得它们令人望而却步。
 
Mr Djameh’s latest plan is to find parched investors wanting to buy a share of the company.
贾米赫的最新计划是寻找渴望购买公司股份的投资者。
 
Yet one of the potential financiers who is interested may bring trouble.“He is a drug dealer,” chuckles Mr Djameh.“It’s not really the kind of money that you want to work with.”
然而，其中有一个感兴趣的潜在投资者可能会带来麻烦。贾米赫轻笑道:“他是个毒贩。你肯定不想跟这种人有金钱往来。”

 
[Paragraph 6]
In World Bank surveys a quarter of sub-Saharan African firms cited access to finance as their biggest obstacle.
在世界银行的调查中，四分之一的撒哈拉以南非洲公司认为获得资金是他们最大的障碍。
 
This is far higher than for other constraints.
这远远高于其他约束条件。
 
[Paragraph 7]
After years trying to raise money to expand, Mr Djameh is still stuck brewing small batches.
多年来，贾米赫一直在努力筹集资金进行扩张，但仍卡在小批量酿造啤酒阶段。 
To make ends meet, he has long worked as a consultant to aid projects across Africa on how to grow sorghum and use it for brewing.
为了维持收支平衡，他长期担任顾问一职，为非洲各地的项目提供帮助，例如如何种植高粱，如何用高粱酿酒等。 
Frustrated, he may focus on this work.
扩张计划受挫时，他可能会专注于顾问这项工作。
 
That reveals a bitter irony: it is often not just easier, but more profitable, to work for an aid outfit promoting clever schemes to transform African economies than to build businesses that do so.
国际救援机构能为非洲经济转型提供好方案，本土企业执行方案，然而讽刺的是为救援机构工作比自己建企业更容易、更赚钱。 
（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量550左右）
原文出自：2022年11月12日《The Economist》Middle East & Africa版块。
精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Maree

本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）
根据加纳2021和2022年预算预测收入以及预测支出的统计数据，该国2021年的偿债负担预计将增至82%，然后在2022年降至45%。加纳政府需要借款来支付剩余法定开支以及所有其他可自由支配的开支。如果其政府未能严明纪律、增加国内收入、减少支出或两者兼而有之来创造财政空间，加纳就不得不寻求国际货币基金组织的援助。若干外国信用评级机构最近下调了加纳的经济评级，理由是其无法产生足够的现金来偿还债务。此举向投资者发出了信号——加纳的政府债券无利可图且违约风险过高。这也意味着加纳政府可能无法继续在国际金融市场上筹集资金。备选方案有国内借款、驱逐私营部门或从其他国家借款。若各类备选方案悉已援用无遗，则该国必须通过国际货币基金组织申请计划项目。

【重点句子】（3 个）
Chief among them is access to finance. Alas, government and donor efforts to fix the problems often go awry.
最主要的问题是获得融资的渠道。可惜的是，政府和捐赠机构在解决这些问题方面常常会出错。
 
Ghana’s government is now broke and in talks with the IMF.
加纳政府现在已经破产，正在与国际货币基金组织协商具体事宜。
 
After years trying to raise money to expand, Mr Djameh is still stuck brewing small batches.
多年来，贾米赫一直在努力筹集资金进行扩张，但仍卡在小批量酿造啤酒阶段。