評(píng)論
打印
Business
商業(yè)報(bào)道
African entrepreneurs
非洲企業(yè)家
Parallel players
同舞者
Why many of Africa's budding businessfolk are jacks-of-all-trades
為何許多非洲的新興企業(yè)家雜而不精
ONE of the many terms Silicon Valley has bequeathed to the business world is serial entrepreneur, a label for those restless souls who start one business after another.
硅谷留給商界的眾多術(shù)語(yǔ)之一是連續(xù)企業(yè)家，指的是那些接連創(chuàng)業(yè)的不安分的人。
Perhaps Africa can now contribute another expression: the parallel entrepreneur.
也許非洲正在提供另一種表述并行企業(yè)家。
More than in any other part of the developing world, the continent's budding business folk create networks of several firms across a number of different sectors of the economy, according to research by IMANI, a think-tank based in Ghana.
根據(jù)加納智庫(kù)IMANI的研究，與世界任何發(fā)展中的地區(qū)相比，更多非洲大陸的新興企業(yè)家創(chuàng)造了橫跨不同經(jīng)濟(jì)領(lǐng)域的系列公司網(wǎng)絡(luò)。
The 189 successful entrepreneurs it surveyed in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya own, on average, six businesses each.
在參與調(diào)查的加納，尼日爾和肯尼亞的189個(gè)成功企業(yè)家中，他們?nèi)司鶕碛?家企業(yè)，其中一位擁有超過(guò)60家企業(yè)。
One boasted more than 60. What explains this entrepreneurial hyperactivity?
如何解釋這種企業(yè)家的極度活躍現(xiàn)象？
One reason for it is simply the wealth of opportunity, says Cyril Allen II, a well-connected businessman in Liberia's capital, Monrovia.
利比里亞首都蒙羅維亞一家實(shí)力雄厚的家族式企業(yè)家，Cyril Allen 二世表示，大量的機(jī)會(huì)是造成這種現(xiàn)象的原因之一。
He and his family farm cocoa and coffee, run a cleaning business, lease out property and manage logistics for international companies.
他和他的家族種植可可樹(shù)和咖啡樹(shù)，經(jīng)營(yíng)一家清潔公司，財(cái)產(chǎn)租賃以及為跨國(guó)公司提供物流管理服務(wù)。
The civil war here ended less than a decade ago.
他還表示內(nèi)戰(zhàn)已經(jīng)結(jié)束將近十年了。
Once a firm has established a degree of trust among its customers, that can in turn spawn new businesses, particularly when many other firms are unreliable.
公司一旦在客戶群中建立了一定的信用度，這就可以孕育出新的公司，尤其是在其他企業(yè)沒(méi)有信用的情況下。
We work based on relationships, so if I have a good relationship with a client, they might ask for another service,
我們的工作基于關(guān)系網(wǎng)，這樣如果我與客戶維系一個(gè)良好的關(guān)系，客戶就有可能會(huì)要求提供其他服務(wù)。
explains Njeri Rionge, an entrepreneur in Kenya whose interests extend from an internet provider to a management consultancy.
肯尼亞企業(yè)家Njeri Rionge的業(yè)務(wù)涉及網(wǎng)絡(luò)接入到管理咨詢服務(wù)等領(lǐng)域，他解釋道。
Necessity can also give rise to the creation of more than one company.
需求會(huì)導(dǎo)致更多公司的創(chuàng)建。
UT Holdings, in Ghana, started out in 1997 granting loans.
位于加納的UT Holdings創(chuàng)建于1997年，提供貸款服務(wù)。
But Prince Kofi Amoabeng, its founder, soon discovered that he needed to provide additional services to make the loans business work. He first added a debt-collection company, then security firms.
但創(chuàng)建者Kofi Amoabeng王子很快發(fā)現(xiàn)他需要提供額外的服務(wù)來(lái)維持貸款業(yè)務(wù)的運(yùn)行。
We found existing companies wanting, says Mr Amoabeng.
他說(shuō)：我們發(fā)現(xiàn)已有公司的需求。
He keeps expanding his business portfolio, which now includes a life-insurance firm.
他首先創(chuàng)立一家債務(wù)收繳公司，然后是證劵公司。他不斷的擴(kuò)展公司的業(yè)務(wù)組合，目前還包括了一家人壽保險(xiǎn)公司。
Certain characteristics of African economies also make it more profitable to keep starting new firms rather than build a single big one.
非洲經(jīng)濟(jì)的特性同樣使得創(chuàng)建新企業(yè)比建立一個(gè)大型企業(yè)更加有利可圖。
Key resources are scarce.
關(guān)鍵資源非常稀少，
Mid-level managers are in sufficient supply, but few are capable of running large businesses, which is why they often apply their talents in several firms simultaneously.
中型企業(yè)的管理者可以獲得充足的供應(yīng)，但很少人有能力運(yùn)行一家大型企業(yè)，這也是他們使人才同時(shí)從事不同企業(yè)的原因。
Financing is hard to come by; entrepreneurs find it easier to get several small loans for each business rather than a large chunk of money.
融資非常困難，而企業(yè)家發(fā)現(xiàn)為幾個(gè)企業(yè)單獨(dú)申請(qǐng)小額貸款比一宗大筆貸款更加容易。
But the most crucial factor may be bureaucracy.
但是最關(guān)鍵的因素應(yīng)該是政府。
Its unpredictability deters businessmen from putting all their resources into one basket—out of fear that the market could be the target of onerous regulation.
它們不可預(yù)知的阻礙商人將所有資源集中到一起—由于擔(dān)心市場(chǎng)會(huì)被麻煩的監(jiān)管條例所限制。
Separate companies are often used to lower tax payments, says Bright Simons, an entrepreneur in Accra, Ghana's capital, who also works as a business analyst.
Bright Simons是加納首都阿克拉的企業(yè)家，同時(shí)也是一名商業(yè)分析師。
A second firm might be formed to supply materials to the first, he explains, allowing the owner to adjust the prices and profits.
他解釋說(shuō)，單獨(dú)的公司通常繳納較低的稅金，而第二個(gè)公司為第一個(gè)提供原材料，這使得企業(yè)家可以調(diào)整產(chǎn)品的價(jià)格和利潤(rùn)。
And once an entrepreneur has learned how to navigate the red tape, why not apply this valuable skill to other undertakings?
如果一個(gè)企業(yè)家學(xué)會(huì)了如何駕馭這些政府的繁雜手續(xù)，為何不將這種有價(jià)值的技術(shù)應(yīng)用于其他的企業(yè)中呢？
Critics of Africa's parallel entrepreneurs worry that jacks-of-all-trades cannot become masters of any.
針對(duì)非洲并行企業(yè)家的批評(píng)家擔(dān)心，這種雜而不精的方式會(huì)使企業(yè)變得沒(méi)有專長(zhǎng)。
And some investors are wary of putting money into African firms because of their often labyrinthine ownership structures.
一些投資者由于非洲企業(yè)錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的所有權(quán)結(jié)構(gòu)而采取非常謹(jǐn)慎的投資行為。
But multitasking has its good sides, argues Ms Rionge, who in one of her parallel activities mentors young entrepreneurs.
但在自己的并行企業(yè)中培訓(xùn)青年企業(yè)家的Rionge女士認(rèn)為，這種多企業(yè)的并行方式有著自身的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，
It makes African business leaders agile and adaptable—both good skills that are absent in many developed economies.
它培養(yǎng)了非洲企業(yè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的靈活性和適應(yīng)性，而這兩種優(yōu)秀技巧正是許多發(fā)達(dá)經(jīng)濟(jì)體中所欠缺的。
