新闻周刊:非洲第一个超级大国的到来比你想象的要快(4)（在线收听）

Oil accounts for 97 percent of Nigeria's official exports. Over the past 21 years, the benchmark price of oil has roller-coastered between $17 and $145 per barrel. High oil prices have encouraged fiscally irresponsible policies, like excess spending, vanity public works, subsidized imports of refined petroleum products, currency manipulation and high levels of protectionism. During boom times, Nigeria splashed around oil money hosting international events like the 2003 All-Africa Games. It spent on grandiose projects like the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in the new national capital of Abuja and the Nigerian space program, which has now launched five satellites. During periods of low prices, Nigeria has been forced to borrow.

石油占尼日利亚官方出口的97%。在过去21年里，基准油价一直徘徊在每桶17美元至145美元之间。高油价助长了不负责任的财政政策，比如过度支出、虚荣心强的公共工程、成品油进口补贴、汇率操纵和高度保护主义。在经济繁荣时期，尼日利亚挥金如土，主办了2003年非洲运动会等国际赛事。它把钱花在了宏伟的项目上，比如位于新首都阿布贾的Moshood Abiola国家体育场，以及已经发射了五颗卫星的尼日利亚太空计划。在低油价时期，尼日利亚被迫借贷。

Oil has also been ruinous for the environment. Although progress has been made, there's a long history of less than best practices by international companies, like gas flaring, which contributes significantly to climate change, as well as the environmental disasters caused by bandits who steal oil from pipelines and entrepreneurs who operate illegal (and dangerous) kerosene and diesel refineries and dump their waste product into the land and waterways.

石油也对环境造成了破坏。尽管已经取得了进展, 但是长期以来，国际公司的最佳实践都不是最好的，比如对气候变化有重大影响的天然气燃除，还有盗贼从输油管道偷油、企业家非法经营(危险的)煤油和柴油精炼厂并将其废弃物倾倒到土地和水道中所造成的环境灾难。。

Another Economic Miracle?

另一个经济奇迹?

OK, here's the shocker. Despite the violence and the red tape and the greed, Nigeria's economic success could match China's. The country could finally live up to its huge potential. And it has the same route to success as China: the economy. That seems almost unthinkable. But it's only because the China we know is the China of 2019. Few of us remember the sleepy panda that was China 40 years ago. We've now seen five East Asian economic miracles, so it's easy to position China as part of a trend. It's hard to imagine an African economic miracle because none of us has ever seen one.

好吧，有个令人震惊的消息。尽管有暴力、繁文缛节和贪婪，尼日利亚的经济成功可以与中国匹敌。这个国家终于可以发挥其巨大的潜力了。它的成功之路与中国相同：经济。这几乎是不可想象的。但这只是因为我们知道的中国是2019年的中国。我们中很少有人记得40年前中国的熊猫。我们现在已经看到了东亚的五个经济奇迹，所以很容易将中国定位为趋势的一部分。很难想象非洲会出现经济奇迹，因为我们都没见过。