2015考研英语阅读英文原刊《经济学人》非洲大陆掀起消费潮

　　2015考研英语复习正是强化复习阶段，考研英语阅读在考研英语中占了40分，所以考研英语阅读是英语科目中重要的一项。新东方名师范猛老师曾建议过考研生需要坚持每天泛读10-15分钟的英文原刊。强烈推荐了杂志《经济学人》.杂志中的文章也是考研英语的主要材料来源.希望考研考生认真阅读，快速提高考研英语阅读水平。

　　A continent goes shopping

　　非洲大陆掀起消费潮

　　Africa's fast-growing middle class has money tospend

　　迅速壮大的非洲中产阶级群体如今有钱消费了

　　AFRICAN consumers are underserved andovercharged, reckons Frank Braeken, Unilever'sboss in Africa.

　　联合利华非洲区总裁Frank Braeken一直认为，非洲消费者所享受的服务水平过低且收费高昂。

　　Until recently, South Africans who craved shampoo made specially for African hair,

　　直到最近，除了购买从美国进口的昂贵的日用品，南非人几乎别无选择，而他们真正渴望的是适合非洲发质的洗发水，

　　or cosmetics for black skin, had little choice besides costly American imports.

　　或是适合黑色皮肤的化妆品。

　　Unilever spotted an opportunity:

　　在这里，联合利华发现了商机：

　　its Motions range of shampoos andconditioners is now a hit.

　　其运动系列的洗发水和护发素正受到追捧。

　　The Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods giant is making a big effort to tailor products for Africancustomers:

　　联合利华这家英荷日用消费品巨头正在为生产适合非洲消费者的产品做出巨大的努力：

　　affordable food, water-thrifty washing powders and grooming products to fit local tastes.

　　实惠的食品，省水的洗衣粉以及符合当地审美观的美容产品。

　　It is also helping other businesses.

　　这也带动了其他行业的发展。

　　Last year Unilever opened the Motions Academy in Johannesburg.

　　去年，联合利华在约翰内斯堡开设了一家Motions学院，

　　Each year it will train up to 5,000 hairdressers who want to open their own salons.

　　每年最多能培养5000名美发师，他们希望毕业后能够开设自己的美发沙龙。

　　It is also a laboratory to test products and to try out new business models.

　　联合利华能够利用这家美发学院测试新产品，同时探索新的商业模式。

　　If it works, Unilever plans to replicate it elsewhere in Africa.

　　如果获得成功，该模式将在非洲其他地区获得推广。

　　Africa already has a $1.8 trillion economy and is forecast to have a population of 1.3 billionby 2020.

　　非洲经济体规模已达到1.8万亿美元，预计到2020年人口将会达到13亿。

　　Lion economies such as Ghana and Rwanda have grown faster than South Korea, Taiwan andother East Asian tiger economies in five of the past seven years, albeit from a low base.

　　在过去的七年中，像加纳、卢旺达这样的非洲狮经济体国家有五年发展速度超过了韩国、台湾等亚洲虎经济体国家。尽管起点较低，这种增长速度还是很可观的。

　　Unilever is not the only consumer-goods giant moving in.

　　联合利华不是唯一进军非洲市场的日用消费品巨头。

　　Africa accounts for only 3% of group sales of Nestle, the world's biggest food firm,

　　对于世界最大的食品企业的雀巢公司来说，非洲市场仅占其全球销售总额的3%，

　　but the Swiss behemoth is betting big there too:

　　但这家瑞士巨头也在非洲市场下了很大的赌注：

　　its African investments will total SFr1 billion in 2011 and 2012 against a total capitalexpenditure of SFr4.8 billion last year.

　　2001和2012年的总投资额达到10亿瑞士法郎，而去年雀巢在全球的总投资额也只有48亿瑞士法郎。

　　It has 29 factories on the continent and wants to build more. SABMiller, the world'ssecond-largest beermaker, is planning to invest up to $2.5 billion in Africa over the next fiveyears to build and revamp breweries.

　　雀巢公司在非洲拥有29家工厂，将来还会建得更多。全球第二大啤酒制造商—南非米勒正计划在未来的五年中向非洲投资25亿美元用以建造、改造啤酒厂。

　　In the year to March 2012, the continent was SABMiller's fastest-growing region, withvolumes up by 13%.

　　到2012年三月为止，SABMiller在非洲地区销售量上升13%，非洲成为SABMille业务发展最快的地区。

　　Africa's attractions stem from its new middle class, loosely defined by the AfricanDevelopment Bank as anyone who spends between $2 and $20 a day in purchasing-powerparity terms.

　　非洲市场之所以如此诱人，原因在于新生的中产阶级，非洲发展银行将其大致定义为日均消费额在2美元到20美元之间的群体。

　　The bank estimates that more than 34% of Africans fit this description, up from 27% in2000.

　　该银行估计，非洲符合这一描述的人口比例由2007年的27%上升到如今的34%以上。

　　The challenge is to make stuff such consumers can afford, says Sullivan O'Carroll, the bossof Nestle South Africa.

　　南非雀巢总裁Sullivan O'Carroll表示，最大的挑战在于—要生产非洲中产阶级消费得起的产品。

　　Nestle offers wares called Popularly Positioned Products.

　　雀巢将这类产品称作大众消费品。

　　The name may not be snappy but the products are cheap and address common nutritionaldeficiencies.

　　也许这个名字不够大众化，但这类产品价格低廉，并且能够决绝普遍存在的营养不良问题。

　　For instance, Nespray, an instant milk powder, contains calcium, zinc and iron—allessential for children.

　　例如Nespray，这是一种速溶奶粉，含有钙、铁、锌这些儿童必需的矿物质。

　　It is sold in a 250g pouch that costs only a few rand.

　　这种奶粉的250克装仅售价几个兰特(南非货币单位)。

　　Designing products that appeal to locals is only part of the challenge.

　　设计符合当地需求的产品仅仅是挑战的一部分。

　　Even in South Africa, which has the best infrastructure, consumers may be eager but hard toreach.

　　即使在基础设施状况最好的南非，也存在市场需求旺盛但物流不便的问题。

　　Nestle delivers directly to spaza shops, that make up about 30% of the national retailmarket.

　　雀巢公司直接向spaza日常便利店供货。

　　Many of these are in remote areas and owners often cannot afford delivery vans.

　　许多spaza都位于偏远地区，店主无力购买厢式货车来运货。

　　Nestle has set up 18 distribution centres that deliver to spazas.

　　雀巢已经建立了18个配送中心来为spaza店家供货，

　　It charges them the same prices as bigger outlets.

　　收取的费用与那些较大的品牌直销购物中心是一样的。

　　Security is a problem too.

　　安全也是一大问题。

　　Just as Nestle's milk powder is fortified with iron, so its distribution centres are fortifiedwith steel.

　　例如雀巢奶粉是强化铁配方的，于是其配送中心中备有钢铁。

　　The boss of the one in Soweto, has been tied up and held at gunpoint by burglars andthreatened several times.

　　索伟托地区配送中心的老板曾被持枪的窃贼绑了起来，还被威胁过好几次。

　　Delivery vehicles that collect the spaza owners' payments, called cash vans, used to beadorned with branding. That was like sticking on a sign saying rob me.

　　以往，装载着spaza 店主付款的厢式货车一般都打着商标标识，它们被称作运钞货车，这简直是在招呼人们来抢我吧。

　　Today they are nondescript white cars.

　　如今，这些货车被没有任何标识的白色轿车所替代。

　　Soweto's spazas range from a hole in the wall on a dust road in a squatters' camp to aproper mini-market with a bright-green fade.

　　索伟托的spazas便利店规模大小不等，千差万别—有的位于非法聚居点，门前是灰尘扑扑的马路，所谓的便利店只是在墙上掏出一个洞;有的则坐落在合法的小型市场内，建筑表面刷着鲜亮的绿漆。

　　Many of the owners are canny in dealing with customers.

　　多数店主都很精明，招呼客人很有一套。

　　But for the supplier, working with them is tricky.

　　但对于供货商来说，他们却很难以对付。

　　Few have much working capital—5,000 rand is typical.

　　店主们几乎都没有太多的钱—大多数人的运营资本只有5000兰特左右。

　　Many have no ambition to grow.

　　许多店主并没有扩大营业规模的打算。

　　Some are hard to find.

　　还有的找不到人。

　　Nestle views microdistribution as a marketing expenditure:

　　雀巢公司把微观分销microdistribution 视作市场营销支出的一部分：

　　its staff can talk spaza owners into trying new products and check that its wares areprominently displayed.

　　公司职员可以说服spazas店主尝试售卖新产品，检查雀巢公司的产品是否摆放在显眼的位置。

　　The goal is to make what it calls microdistribution break even.

　　之所以这样做是为了保证微观分销不会赔本。

　　South Africa's roads and railways are much better than the rest of Africa's.

　　南非的公路和铁路设施比非洲其他地区要好得多。

　　Danone, a French food firm, delivers its yogurts and other delectables twice a week to 8,500outlets in South Africa.

　　法国食品公司达能集团每周发两次货，把酸奶等美味食品运送到南非8500个品牌直销店中。

　　We cannot do this in Angola, Nigeria or Gambia, says Mario Reis, its local boss.

　　南非区总裁Mario Reis表示：我们无法再安哥拉、尼日利亚或冈比亚做到这一点。

　　He adds that in most of the rest of the continent, firms need to dig their own wells andgenerate their own electricity.

　　他补充道，在非洲其他大部分地区，公司需要自己挖井取水、自己发电。