经济学人:非洲企业家 求知若饥虚心若愚(下)

 　　Becoming a proper incubator has proved tricky¹. 成为一个真正的孵化器非常困难的。

　　Hypercube in Zimbabwe closed in 2015 after operating for less than two years, having failed to find a sustainable business model. 因为没能找到一个可持续的商业模式，津巴布韦的超立方体中心经营不到两年就在2015年倒闭了。

　　A seed fund and incubator based in Nairobi called 88mph closed in 2015 after struggling along for four years;  总部位于内罗毕的88mph种子基金和孵化器挣扎了四年后也在2015年关闭；

　　its Nigerian spin-off, 440. NG, was discontinued after the first cohort graduated—the return on capital to the founder² was insufficient³. 因为第一批支持者的资本回报不足撤出，它的尼日利亚分部440.NG也被关闭。

　　Only one genuine incubator, Raizcorp in South Africa, is profitable without grant funding. 只有一个真正的孵化器是位于南非的Raizcorp，没有依靠补助资金而盈利。

　　Almost all are waiting for their first big payout. 几乎所有人都在等待他们的第一笔大支出。

　　Many incubators lack experienced mentors⁴ to guide young businesses. 许多孵化器缺乏经验丰富的导师指导年轻的企业。

　　In a country like Ethiopia, home to few internationally successful businesses, finding qualified⁵ staff is a headache. 像在埃塞俄比亚这样本土少有国际上成功企业的国家，找到有资历的员工是一个难题。

　　Even in more sophisticated Nigeria, mentors can be substandard. 即使在较为先进的尼日利亚，导师们也不合格。

　　Some actively⁶ harm young startups by, for example, pushing them into raising capital too early. 例如，一些导师鼓动初创公司过早筹集资金，对其造成了不利影响。

　　Just as entrepreneurs need decent mentors, incubators need good entrepreneurs if they are to make any money. 正如企业家需要有经验的顾问一样，孵化器要赚钱就需要好的企业家。

　　In Africa, says Nicolas Friederici of Oxford⁷ University, incubators have disappointed because they are a supply-side solution:  牛津大学的Nicolas Friederici说，在非洲，孵化器因其只是提供解决方案而失望：

　　there are still too few promising⁸ startups in need of their services. 因为需要他们服务的有前途的初创公司太少了。

　　Many of the best entrepreneurs have already left for other places. 许多最优秀的企业家已经离开去其他地方。

　　When Michael Oluwagbemi set up Wennovation Hub in Lagos in 2011,  2011年，当Michael Oluwagbemi在拉各斯建立Wennovation Hub时，

　　he found he had to teach wannabe entrepreneurs how to write applications and design websites before he could even launch the formal incubation programme. 他发现在他认为能推出正式孵化项目前，不得不教那些想成为企业家的人们如何编写应用程序和设计网站。

　　“The incubator in Africa is basically a finishing school and four months of it is not enough,” he says. 他说：“孵化器在非洲基本上是一所精修学校，四个月时间是不够的。”

1 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

4 mentors   

n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友，比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
• These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网

5 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

6 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。