評(píng)論
打印
Africa’s soil is studded with buried treasure.
非洲的土地上到處都是埋藏的寶藏。
Half the world’s diamonds are mined there.
世界上一半的鉆石都是在那里開(kāi)采的。
The largest producers of cobalt, manganese and uranium are all African countries.
鈷、錳和鈾的最大生產(chǎn)國(guó)都是非洲國(guó)家。
Since 2000 more big petroleum discoveries have been made in sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region.
自2000年以來(lái)，在撒哈拉以南的非洲地區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)的大型石油比其他任何地區(qū)都多。
Yet Africans are not wrong when they talk of a “resource curse”.
然而，當(dāng)非洲人談到“資源詛咒”時(shí)，他們也沒(méi)有錯(cuò)。
The continent’s political elite have squandered or stolen much of the bounty, often aided by unscrupulous private firms.
非洲大陸的政治精英們揮霍或竊取了大部分的賞金，而這些行為背后往往有無(wú)良私營(yíng)公司的幫助。
The World Bank predicts that by 2030, 62% of the world’s very poor people will live in resource-rich sub-Saharan countries, up from 12% in 2000.
世界銀行預(yù)測(cè)，到2030年，世界上62%的極度貧困人口將生活在資源豐富的撒哈拉以南國(guó)家，而2000年這一比例為12%。
Resource-rich states are more likely to suffer dictatorship or civil war.
資源豐富的國(guó)家更有可能遭受獨(dú)裁統(tǒng)治或內(nèi)戰(zhàn)。
Managing resources better is crucial to the future of Africa.
更好地管理資源對(duì)非洲的未來(lái)至關(guān)重要。
The world is hungry for its hydrocarbons.
世界對(duì)碳?xì)浠衔锶琊囁瓶省?/p>
Its minerals are needed for cleaner energy.
它的礦產(chǎn)品是清潔能源所必需的。
Sadly African politicians risk wasting the moment.
遺憾的是，非洲的政客們正冒著浪費(fèi)時(shí)機(jī)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
Few pursue the right policies.
很少有人會(huì)采取正確的政策。
One African country, however, has been a glittering exception, at least until recently—Botswana.
然而，至少到最近為止，有個(gè)非洲國(guó)家是最耀眼的例外——博茨瓦納。
At independence in 1966 Botswana was one of the poorest countries in the world.
1966年獨(dú)立時(shí)，博茨瓦納是世界上最貧窮的國(guó)家之一。
It sold beef but little else.
它只賣(mài)牛肉。
It was home to just 22 university graduates.
這里只有22名大學(xué)畢業(yè)生。
Over the next four decades its economic-growth rate rivalled that of China, Singapore and South Korea;
在接下來(lái)的40年里，它的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)率與中國(guó)、新加坡和韓國(guó)不相上下;
today it is one of the richest countries in Africa.
今天，它是非洲最富有的國(guó)家之一。
A necessary condition for its rise was the discovery in 1967 of diamonds by De Beers, a mining giant.
1967年，礦業(yè)巨頭戴比爾斯發(fā)現(xiàn)了鉆石，這是其崛起的必要條件。
But that was not sufficient: the transformation of Botswana also required the right policies.
但這還不夠：博茨瓦納的轉(zhuǎn)型還需要正確的政策。
Several stand out.
有幾個(gè)政策很突出。
Botswana has long offered secure property rights and a stable, clear tax regime.
博茨瓦納長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)一直提供有保障的產(chǎn)權(quán)和穩(wěn)定、明確的稅收制度。
Today De Beers reckons that Botswana keeps four-fifths of the revenues from Debswana, their joint mining venture, through taxes, royalties and dividends.
如今，戴比爾斯估計(jì)博茨瓦納通過(guò)稅收、特許權(quán)使用費(fèi)和股息，從他們的合資礦業(yè)企業(yè)德比斯瓦納獲得了五分之四的收入。
Elsewhere in Africa firms are reluctant to invest huge sums when mines can be seized or tax rates are volatile.
在非洲其他地方，當(dāng)?shù)V山有可能被查封或稅率不穩(wěn)定時(shí)，企業(yè)就不愿投入巨額資金。
Neighbouring South Africa is among the world’s ten least attractive countries for investors in mines, according to the Fraser Institute, a think-tank.
據(jù)智庫(kù)弗雷澤研究所稱，其鄰國(guó)南非是世界上對(duì)礦業(yè)投資者最不具吸引力的十個(gè)國(guó)家之一。
