原文標(biāo)題：
Business?in?Africa
Of beer and banks
A Ghanaian brewery shows how hard life is for small businesses
在非洲做生意
啤酒和銀行
加納的一家啤酒廠揭露了小企業(yè)的艱難處境
?
Gaining access to finance is by far the biggest obstacle
獲得融資渠道是迄今為止最大的障礙

[Paragraph 1]
“HAPPY 34TH BIRTHDAY, Tom”, exclaims the label on the beer bottle.
啤酒瓶上的標(biāo)簽上寫(xiě)著:“湯姆，34歲生日快樂(lè)?！?br>?
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.
下面是一張壽星的照片，他當(dāng)時(shí)是美國(guó)駐加納大使館的一名雇員，臉上的表情表明他沒(méi)想到會(huì)有拘謹(jǐn)?shù)耐饨还俪霈F(xiàn)在他的派對(duì)上。
?
Clement Djameh, a wisecracking?Ghanaian brewer, makes the bespoke labels and the amber liquid inside.
克萊門(mén)特·賈米赫是一位愛(ài)說(shuō)俏皮話的加納啤酒釀造商，他制作了定制的標(biāo)簽和里面的琥珀色液體。
?
It is refreshing, tangy, and so strong that a second glass risks turning the afternoon into a haze.
它清爽、刺鼻，味道濃烈，喝第二杯就有可能醉了，使得整個(gè)下午都灰朦朦的。?
The surprise ingredient is locally grown sorghum.
令人驚訝的是原料竟是當(dāng)?shù)胤N植的高粱。
?
Mr Djameh is desperate?to expand to meet demand, but his plans are badly stalled.
賈米赫不顧一切地想擴(kuò)張以滿足需求，但他的計(jì)劃嚴(yán)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區(qū)經(jīng)營(yíng)企業(yè)的人，即使是在加納等相對(duì)繁榮的國(guó)家，也面臨著一系列難以想象的問(wèn)題。
?
Chief among them is access to finance.Alas, government and donor efforts to fix the problems often go awry.

最主要的問(wèn)題是獲得融資的渠道。可惜的是，政府和捐贈(zèng)機(jī)構(gòu)在解決這些問(wèn)題方面常常會(huì)出錯(cuò)。
?
[Paragraph 3]
Mr Djameh has many advantages for a would-be brewing kingpin.
作為一個(gè)潛在的釀酒巨頭，賈米赫有很多優(yōu)勢(shì)。
?
He studied beer-making in Munich and has worked for Ghana’s biggest brewers.
他在慕尼黑學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)啤酒制造，且在加納最大的啤酒釀造商工作過(guò)。
?
Beer-glugging foreigners love his concoctions.
愛(ài)喝啤酒的外國(guó)人喜歡他調(diào)制的啤酒。
?
His microbrewery was Ghana’s first.
他的微型啤酒廠在加納排名第一。
?
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.
他用的高粱來(lái)自于一個(gè)政府和聯(lián)合國(guó)共同支持的數(shù)百萬(wàn)項(xiàng)目，該項(xiàng)目鼓勵(lì)加納農(nóng)民種植谷物，以供應(yīng)啤酒廠，從而減少貧困。
?
Ghana’s beer barons?have been sniffy about using sorghum.

加納的啤酒巨頭們一直不屑于使用高粱。

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

賈米赫找到從這個(gè)項(xiàng)目中獲利的方法。

?
[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年酒廠每批產(chǎn)出200升啤酒，為了提高產(chǎn)量，賈米赫開(kāi)始籌資約40萬(wàn)美元，以購(gòu)買(mǎi)更大的釀酒設(shè)備和更多的酒桶。

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

他說(shuō)根據(jù)一項(xiàng)特殊政策，他在一家國(guó)有銀行申請(qǐng)了一筆無(wú)息貸款，并獲得批準(zhǔn)。

But the bank then said it had no cash to lend.
但該銀行隨后表示并無(wú)現(xiàn)金可以借出。
?
The cheap-loan scheme was later changed into one that charged 10% interest.
無(wú)息貸款后來(lái)也變?yōu)槭杖?0%利息的貸款。
?
That did not deter Mr Djameh, who was keen to?reap?economies of scale.

這并沒(méi)有嚇退渴望擴(kuò)大酒廠規(guī)模的賈米赫。

“Breweries always make money,” he grins.
“啤酒廠總是能賺錢(qián)，”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，在信貸員要求10%的回扣時(shí)，他猶豫了，他說(shuō):“如果你不準(zhǔn)備付錢(qián)，你又沒(méi)有強(qiáng)大的政治關(guān)系，你就拿不到錢(qián)?！?br>?
[Paragraph 5]
Ghana’s government is now broke and in talks with the IMF.
加納政府現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)破產(chǎn)，正在與國(guó)際貨幣基金組織協(xié)商具體事宜。
?
The central bank has increased its main interest rate to 24.5%.
中央銀行已將主要利率提高到24.5%。
?
Borrowing costs on commercial loans are higher still.
商業(yè)貸款的借貸成本更高。
?
Even a brewer would find them prohibitive.
即使是釀酒師也會(huì)覺(jué)得它們令人望而卻步。
?
Mr Djameh’s latest plan is to find parched investors wanting to buy a share of the company.
賈米赫的最新計(jì)劃是尋找渴望購(gòu)買(mǎi)公司股份的投資者。
?
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，其中有一個(gè)感興趣的潛在投資者可能會(huì)帶來(lái)麻煩。賈米赫輕笑道:“他是個(gè)毒販。你肯定不想跟這種人有金錢(qián)往來(lái)。”

?
[Paragraph 6]
In World Bank surveys a quarter of sub-Saharan African firms cited access to finance as their biggest obstacle.
在世界銀行的調(diào)查中，四分之一的撒哈拉以南非洲公司認(rèn)為獲得資金是他們最大的障礙。
?
This is far higher than for other constraints.
這遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于其他約束條件。
?
[Paragraph 7]
After years trying to raise money to expand, Mr Djameh is still stuck brewing small batches.
多年來(lái)，賈米赫一直在努力籌集資金進(jìn)行擴(kuò)張，但仍卡在小批量釀造啤酒階段。?
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.
為了維持收支平衡，他長(zhǎng)期擔(dān)任顧問(wèn)一職，為非洲各地的項(xiàng)目提供幫助，例如如何種植高粱，如何用高粱釀酒等。?
Frustrated, he may focus on this work.
擴(kuò)張計(jì)劃受挫時(shí)，他可能會(huì)專注于顧問(wèn)這項(xiàng)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.
國(guó)際救援機(jī)構(gòu)能為非洲經(jīng)濟(jì)轉(zhuǎn)型提供好方案，本土企業(yè)執(zhí)行方案，然而諷刺的是為救援機(jī)構(gòu)工作比自己建企業(yè)更容易、更賺錢(qián)。?
（恭喜讀完，本篇英語(yǔ)詞匯量550左右）
原文出自：2022年11月12日《The Economist》Middle East & Africa版塊。
精讀筆記來(lái)源于：自由英語(yǔ)之路

本文翻譯整理: Maree

本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來(lái)自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
根據(jù)加納2021和2022年預(yù)算預(yù)測(cè)收入以及預(yù)測(cè)支出的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)，該國(guó)2021年的償債負(fù)擔(dān)預(yù)計(jì)將增至82%，然后在2022年降至45%。加納政府需要借款來(lái)支付剩余法定開(kāi)支以及所有其他可自由支配的開(kāi)支。如果其政府未能?chē)?yán)明紀(jì)律、增加國(guó)內(nèi)收入、減少支出或兩者兼而有之來(lái)創(chuàng)造財(cái)政空間，加納就不得不尋求國(guó)際貨幣基金組織的援助。若干外國(guó)信用評(píng)級(jí)機(jī)構(gòu)最近下調(diào)了加納的經(jīng)濟(jì)評(píng)級(jí)，理由是其無(wú)法產(chǎn)生足夠的現(xiàn)金來(lái)償還債務(wù)。此舉向投資者發(fā)出了信號(hào)——加納的政府債券無(wú)利可圖且違約風(fēng)險(xiǎn)過(guò)高。這也意味著加納政府可能無(wú)法繼續(xù)在國(guó)際金融市場(chǎng)上籌集資金。備選方案有國(guó)內(nèi)借款、驅(qū)逐私營(yíng)部門(mén)或從其他國(guó)家借款。若各類備選方案悉已援用無(wú)遺，則該國(guó)必須通過(guò)國(guó)際貨幣基金組織申請(qǐng)計(jì)劃項(xiàng)目。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3 個(gè)）
Chief among them is access to finance. Alas, government and donor efforts to fix the problems often go awry.
最主要的問(wèn)題是獲得融資的渠道?？上У氖?，政府和捐贈(zèng)機(jī)構(gòu)在解決這些問(wèn)題方面常常會(huì)出錯(cuò)。
?
Ghana’s government is now broke and in talks with the IMF.
加納政府現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)破產(chǎn)，正在與國(guó)際貨幣基金組織協(xié)商具體事宜。
?
After years trying to raise money to expand, Mr Djameh is still stuck brewing small batches.
多年來(lái)，賈米赫一直在努力籌集資金進(jìn)行擴(kuò)張，但仍卡在小批量釀造啤酒階段。