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Consumer goods in Africa
非洲日用消費品市場
A continent goes shopping
非洲大陸掀起消費潮
Africa's fast-growing middle class has money to spend
迅速壯大的非洲中產階級群體如今有錢消費了
AFRICAN consumers are underserved and overcharged, reckons Frank Braeken, Unilever's boss in Africa.
聯合利華非洲區總裁Frank Braeken一直認為，非洲消費者所享受的服務水平過低且收費高昂。
Until recently, South Africans who craved shampoo made specially for African hair,
直到最近，除了購買從美國進口的昂貴的日用品，南非人幾乎別無選擇，而他們真正渴望的是適合非洲發質的洗發水，
or cosmetics for black skin, had little choice besides costly American imports.
或是適合黑色皮膚的化妝品。
Unilever spotted an opportunity:
在這里，聯合利華發現了商機：
its Motions range of shampoos and conditioners is now a hit.
其運動系列的洗發水和護發素正受到追捧。
The Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods giant is making a big effort to tailor products for African customers:
聯合利華這家英荷日用消費品巨頭正在為生產適合非洲消費者的產品做出巨大的努力：
affordable food, water-thrifty washing powders and grooming products to fit local tastes.
實惠的食品，省水的洗衣粉以及符合當地審美觀的美容產品。
It is also helping other businesses.
這也帶動了其他行業的發展。
Last year Unilever opened the Motions Academy in Johannesburg.
去年，聯合利華在約翰內斯堡開設了一家Motions學院，
Each year it will train up to 5,000 hairdressers who want to open their own salons.
每年最多能培養5000名美發師，他們希望畢業后能夠開設自己的美發沙龍。
It is also a laboratory to test products and to try out new business models.
聯合利華能夠利用這家美發學院測試新產品，同時探索新的商業模式。
If it works, Unilever plans to replicate it elsewhere in Africa.
如果獲得成功，該模式將在非洲其他地區獲得推廣。
Africa already has a $1.8 trillion economy and is forecast to have a population of 1.3 billion by 2020.
非洲經濟體規模已達到1.8萬億美元，預計到2020年人口將會達到13億。
Lion economies such as Ghana and Rwanda have grown faster than South Korea, Taiwan and other East Asian tiger economies in five of the past seven years, albeit from a low base.
在過去的七年中，像加納、盧旺達這樣的非洲獅經濟體國家有五年發展速度超過了韓國、臺灣等亞洲虎經濟體國家。盡管起點較低，這種增長速度還是很可觀的。
Unilever is not the only consumer-goods giant moving in.
聯合利華不是唯一進軍非洲市場的日用消費品巨頭。
Africa accounts for only 3% of group sales of Nestle, the world's biggest food firm,
對于世界最大的食品企業的雀巢公司來說，非洲市場僅占其全球銷售總額的3%，
but the Swiss behemoth is betting big there too:
但這家瑞士巨頭也在非洲市場下了很大的賭注：
its African investments will total SFr1 billion in 2011 and 2012 against a total capital expenditure of SFr4.8 billion last year.
2001和2012年的總投資額達到10億瑞士法郎，而去年雀巢在全球的總投資額也只有48億瑞士法郎。
It has 29 factories on the continent and wants to build more. SABMiller, the world's second-largest beermaker, is planning to invest up to $2.5 billion in Africa over the next five years to build and revamp breweries.
雀巢公司在非洲擁有29家工廠，將來還會建得更多。全球第二大啤酒制造商—南非米勒正計劃在未來的五年中向非洲投資25億美元用以建造、改造啤酒廠。
In the year to March 2012, the continent was SABMiller's fastest-growing region, with volumes up by 13%.
到2012年三月為止，SABMiller在非洲地區銷售量上升13%，非洲成為SABMille業務發展最快的地區。
Africa's attractions stem from its new middle class, loosely defined by the African Development Bank as anyone who spends between $2 and $20 a day in purchasing-power parity terms.
非洲市場之所以如此誘人，原因在于新生的中產階級，非洲發展銀行將其大致定義為日均消費額在2美元到20美元之間的群體。
The bank estimates that more than 34% of Africans fit this description, up from 27% in 2000.
該銀行估計，非洲符合這一描述的人口比例由2007年的27%上升到如今的34%以上。
The challenge is to make stuff such consumers can afford, says Sullivan O'Carroll, the boss of Nestle South Africa.
南非雀巢總裁Sullivan O'Carroll表示，最大的挑戰在于—要生產非洲中產階級消費得起的產品。
Nestle offers wares called Popularly Positioned Products.
雀巢將這類產品稱作大眾消費品。
The name may not be snappy but the products are cheap and address common nutritional deficiencies.
也許這個名字不夠大眾化，但這類產品價格低廉，并且能夠決絕普遍存在的營養不良問題。
For instance, Nespray, an instant milk powder, contains calcium, zinc and iron—all essential for children.
例如Nespray，這是一種速溶奶粉，含有鈣、鐵、鋅這些兒童必需的礦物質。
It is sold in a 250g pouch that costs only a few rand.
這種奶粉的250克裝僅售價幾個蘭特（南非貨幣單位）。
Designing products that appeal to locals is only part of the challenge.
設計符合當地需求的產品僅僅是挑戰的一部分。
Even in South Africa, which has the best infrastructure, consumers may be eager but hard to reach.
即使在基礎設施狀況最好的南非，也存在市場需求旺盛但物流不便的問題。
Nestle delivers directly to spaza shops, that make up about 30% of the national retail market.
雀巢公司直接向spaza日常便利店供貨。
Many of these are in remote areas and owners often cannot afford delivery vans.
許多spaza都位于偏遠地區，店主無力購買廂式貨車來運貨。
Nestle has set up 18 distribution centres that deliver to spazas.
雀巢已經建立了18個配送中心來為spaza店家供貨，
It charges them the same prices as bigger outlets.
收取的費用與那些較大的品牌直銷購物中心是一樣的。
Security is a problem too.
安全也是一大問題。
Just as Nestle's milk powder is fortified with iron, so its distribution centres are fortified with steel.
例如雀巢奶粉是強化鐵配方的，于是其配送中心中備有鋼鐵。
The boss of the one in Soweto, has been tied up and held at gunpoint by burglars and threatened several times.
索偉托地區配送中心的老板曾被持槍的竊賊綁了起來，還被威脅過好幾次。
Delivery vehicles that collect the spaza owners' payments, called cash vans, used to be adorned with branding. That was like sticking on a sign saying rob me.
以往，裝載著spaza 店主付款的廂式貨車一般都打著商標標識，它們被稱作運鈔貨車，這簡直是在招呼人們來搶我吧。
Today they are nondescript white cars.
如今，這些貨車被沒有任何標識的白色轎車所替代。
Soweto's spazas range from a hole in the wall on a dust road in a squatters' camp to a proper mini-market with a bright-green fade.
索偉托的spazas便利店規模大小不等，千差萬別—有的位于非法聚居點，門前是灰塵撲撲的馬路，所謂的便利店只是在墻上掏出一個洞；有的則坐落在合法的小型市場內，建筑表面刷著鮮亮的綠漆。
Many of the owners are canny in dealing with customers.
多數店主都很精明，招呼客人很有一套。
But for the supplier, working with them is tricky.
但對于供貨商來說，他們卻很難以對付。
Few have much working capital—5,000 rand is typical.
店主們幾乎都沒有太多的錢—大多數人的運營資本只有5000蘭特左右。
Many have no ambition to grow.
許多店主并沒有擴大營業規模的打算。
Some are hard to find.
還有的找不到人。
Nestle views microdistribution as a marketing expenditure:
雀巢公司把微觀分銷microdistribution 視作市場營銷支出的一部分：
its staff can talk spaza owners into trying new products and check that its wares are prominently displayed.
公司職員可以說服spazas店主嘗試售賣新產品，檢查雀巢公司的產品是否擺放在顯眼的位置。
The goal is to make what it calls microdistribution break even.
之所以這樣做是為了保證微觀分銷不會賠本。
South Africa's roads and railways are much better than the rest of Africa's.
南非的公路和鐵路設施比非洲其他地區要好得多。
Danone, a French food firm, delivers its yogurts and other delectables twice a week to 8,500 outlets in South Africa.
法國食品公司達能集團每周發兩次貨，把酸奶等美味食品運送到南非8500個品牌直銷店中。
We cannot do this in Angola, Nigeria or Gambia, says Mario Reis, its local boss.
南非區總裁Mario Reis表示：我們無法再安哥拉、尼日利亞或岡比亞做到這一點。
He adds that in most of the rest of the continent, firms need to dig their own wells and generate their own electricity.
他補充道，在非洲其他大部分地區，公司需要自己挖井取水、自己發電。
In Dar es Salaam in Tanzania electricity is on only for two unpredictable hours a day.
在坦桑尼亞首都達累斯薩拉姆，每天只能供應兩個小時電力，還是不定時的。
South Africa is a good base from which to penetrate the rest of the continent,
要想把商品推廣到整個非洲大陸，南非是一個很好的起點，
but it is a mistake to assume that what works south of the Limpopo will also work north of it.
但是如果簡單地認為把林波波河以南地區的經驗應用到林波波省以北地區就能取得成功，那可就大錯特錯了。
More than two-fifths of all Africans still subsist on $1.25 a day.
2/5以上的非洲人每天的消費水平僅為1.25美元。
Brands matter less than price in most of Africa, says Simon Crutchley, the boss of AVI, a big South African consumer-goods firm with businesses across Africa.
在非洲大部分地區，價格比品牌更重要南非日用消費品企業AVI公司總裁Simon Crutchley 表示：
Many Africans are too poor to be brand aware, he says.
許多非洲人過于貧窮，沒有什么品牌意識。
They have not grown up bombarded with advertising and barely recognise even famous brands.
他們不是在廣告轟炸下成長起來的，甚至連著名的商標也認不出幾個。
But this is changing quickly, thanks to television and mobile phones.
但多虧了電視和移動電話的普及，這些正在很快轉變。
Corruption is a huge headache.
腐敗是一個讓人深感頭痛的問題。
At the border of Tanzania and Kenya lorries are kept waiting for a week or more if the right palms are not greased.
在坦桑尼亞和肯尼亞邊境，如果沒有給關鍵位置的人賄賂，運貨卡車可能要等一個星期或者更久才能跨越邊境。
Companies shifting perishable goods risk losing the lot if they refuse to pay up.
如果不交這筆錢，運輸易腐商品的公司就面臨著損失全部貨物的風險。
Ports are a problem, too.
港口也是一個問題。
Durban, in South Africa, is perhaps the most efficient:
南非東部的德班港也許是非洲效率最高的港口：
containers whizz through in a few days.
集裝箱在幾天之內就能通過。
In other ports, the process can drag on for weeks.
在其他港口這一過程要耗費幾周的時間。
The longer the delay, the greater the pressure to pay bribes, moans a long-suffering company boss.
延誤的時間越長，行賄的壓力就越大一位長期忍受這些的老板抱怨道。
He adds that Dar es Salaam, the main port of Tanzania, could double its capacity by bringing its management up to Durban's standards.
他又補充道：要是達累斯薩拉姆的管理水平能夠上升到和德班港一個檔次，港口吞吐量就能翻一番
Gareth Ackerman, the boss of Pick 'n' Pay, a large supermarket chain based in Cape Town, says that his company's strategy is African creep—conquering new markets one at a time, moving steadily northward.
連鎖超市Pay總裁表示其公司戰略為African creep—每次只開設一家新店，穩扎穩打向北方擴展。
We need the supply chain, he explains.
我們需要這樣的供應鏈。他解釋道。
No longer the shopless continent
非洲不再是沒有購物生活的大陸
Unilever's push into Africa is a return to familiar territory.
對聯合利華來說，進軍非洲市場實際上是重回他們熟悉的戰場。
The firm made a fifth of its profits in Africa until the 1970s, when it shifted its attentions to Asia.
直到20世紀70之前，聯合利華總利潤的1/5的還來自非洲市場，從那之后，聯合利華轉攻亞洲市場。
Now it is back, employing 30,000 people on the continent and shifting soap, soup and so on worth 3 billion—out of total worldwide sales of 46 billion.
現在它又回來了，在非洲大陸上雇傭了3萬名員工，銷售日用品、食品等總價值約30億歐元的商品—其全球銷售總額為460億歐元。
It is already Africa's biggest supplier of consumer goods, and aims to double sales in the next five years by beefing up investment and bringing in more of its brands.
聯合利華已成為非洲最大的日用消費品供應商，并打算在未來五年內通過追加投資、引入更多品牌等措施，將非洲地區的銷售總額翻一番。
In spite of the risks, businessfolk are upbeat.
盡管有風險，這些企業還是非常樂觀的。
A couple of decades ago, most African governments made life very hard for business.
幾十年前，大多數非洲政府對商業管束的很嚴。
Now policies are more market-friendly, albeit with frequent relapses:
如今的政策更有利于市場運行，不過時有反復：
Zambia, for example, recently banned the use of American dollars in local transactions—a needless extra hassle for firms operating there.
例如贊比亞最近禁止在國內交易中使用美元——這為在當地有業務的國際企業增添了許多不必要的麻煩。
Still, the corridor chatter at sub-Saharan conferences these days is cheerful.
不過，這幾天就撒哈拉沙漠以南走廊地帶經濟狀況召開的會議還是鼓舞人心的。
Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, says that cynicism about Africa has turned to optimism.
世界經濟論壇的創建者Klaus Schwab認為，以往人們對非洲的嘲笑態度已被一種樂觀的情緒所替代。
We have a sense that things are really getting better, says Mr Braeken.
Mr Braeken 則表示我們感覺到，非洲確實在朝著好的方向發展。
Africa is not only about mining and oil any more.
非洲不再只有石油和礦產。
But, he says, the continent still needs to overcome what George Bush, in another context, called the soft bigotry of low expectations.
但Mr Braeken還表示，非洲必須克服喬治.布什所謂的軟偏見導致的低要求問題。
