2006年VOA标准英语-Africa's Energy Needs Top Agenda at World Bank

By Steve Herman
Tokyo
29 May 2006

The World Bank is questioning the value of large-scale power-generation projects of the type it has funded in Africa and other parts of the developing world. 

Paul Wolfowitz   
  
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is pressing donors¹ at the annual bank conference on development economics to rethink how they go about building infrastructure² projects in developing nations.

The World Bank has been criticized for traditionally favoring mega size hydropower projects at the expense of renewable energy solutions.

Bank officials say they are considering funding more power projects all across Africa, from regional grids³ to small-scale power generation at the household level.

Wolfowitz, in a speech Monday, said that changed circumstances, such as the huge population shift from the African countryside to the cities, calls for new thinking about infrastructure of all kinds.

Paul Wolfowitz with FCCJ President Sloan, preparing to begin speech   
  
"Africa's infrastructure may have been adequate in the 1960's and 1970's, but high population growth combined with rapid urbanization has led to a severe mismatch between the need for infrastructure and what's available," he said.

The two-day development meeting, the first to be hosted by Japan, is focusing on how to meet future energy needs for fast-growing populations, especially those in Africa.

Japan's Finance Minister, Sadakazu Tanigaki, announced a $2 million contribution to a World Bank fund promoting development research.

Tanigaki said it is important to assess whether past efforts to improve infrastructure have actually led to improvements in developing nations, or merely left behind "white elephants" that might have damaged the environment.

The conference is also focusing on how higher oil prices are affecting the poor nations. Officials have suggested that those prices might mean that smaller energy sources, such as wind power, might have now become a feasible alternative to large-scale projects.

The bank estimates that current oil prices are causing Sub-Saharan African nations to lose three percent of their gross domestic product, while increasing poverty by about five percent.

Wolfowitz says Japan's success in the areas of infrastructure and environment is one place that aid donors can turn to for inspiration.

Japan's development after World War II was helped by close collaboration⁴ between industry and government, which saw early moves toward pollution controls and such alternative energy sources as solar heating.

The World Bank has traditionally favored a free market approach with minimal⁵ government involvement.

1 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 grids   

n.格子( grid的名词复数 )；地图上的坐标方格；（输电线路、天然气管道等的）系统网络；（汽车比赛）赛车起跑线

参考例句：

• Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
• The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅，以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句

4 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

5 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。