VOA标准英语2013--电子商务举步维艰的尼日利亚

 

High-Tech¹ and Low-Tech, Nigerian E-Commerce Starting to Click 电子商务举步维艰的尼日利亚

LAGOS — A common complaint in Nigeria is that things just don't work. The phones don't work, the Internet is down and the man who fixes your car is nowhere to be found. In this climate of confusion, how does Jumia, a savvy² new internet company styled like Amazon.com, manage to ship everything from lipstick³ to laser printers across the country?

Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city, is famous for, among other things, bad traffic and Internet scams. When a few young men here cooked up the idea of opening an Internet retail⁴ shop in early 2012, they thought they could use both to their advantage. Retail shoppers would happily stay home to avoid traffic, and Nigeria didn’t gain its infamy⁵ for Internet scams by being computer illiterate⁶. At a warehouse⁷ near the Lagos airport, Jumia Managing Director Tunde Kehinde says that when they started, not everyone saw these qualities as advantages.

“Recruiting the initial team was tough and getting suppliers to trust us because everyone -- customers and suppliers -- are skeptical⁸ about anything online in this part of the world,” recalled Kehinde.

Initially⁹, it took the startup four weeks to get the site online and to start delivering.   But even once they were online, they couldn’t convince Nigerians to enter their credit card numbers into the website, said Raphael Afaedor, another co-founder of Jumia.

“We are not going to grow by actually waiting for people to get comfortable with paying online, so we came up with pay on delivery, where we actually take the product to the person from our warehouse and then the person pays once they see and touch the product,” explained Afaedor.

He said the company started with five motorcycles and a dream to be the largest retailer¹⁰ in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest market and home to over 160 million people. They still have a long way to go, but they now have more than 150 vehicles, 600 employees and deliver thousands of items a day.

Like their Western counterpart, Amazon.com, Jumia sells a broad range of items from shoes to booze. Unlike Amazon, retailers¹¹ in Nigeria have to deal with the bad roads, crazy traffic, daily power outages and the widespread corruption¹² that make it hard to do business here.

Kehinde said Jumia has managed to grow fast because it has always factored these challenges into their business plan. For example, they dispatch items on motorcycles so they can deliver to homes that aren't near viable¹³ roads. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Africa is open for business, but just don’t copy and paste. Come, learn, localize and grow,” said Kehinde.

E-commerce is still new to Nigerians, but Jumia already competes with two other websites: Konga.com and DealDey.com. Jumia investors¹⁴ have also opened online shopping centers in Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and Kenya.

Jumia workers call themselves “Jumians” and are on average about 27 years old. Wealthy Nigerians from their parents’ generation shop in London, they say. They hope rich and middle-class Nigerians of their generation will soon start shopping in Nigeria. 

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

3 lipstick   

n.口红，唇膏

参考例句：

• Taking out her lipstick,she began to paint her lips.她拿出口红，开始往嘴唇上抹。
• Lipstick and hair conditioner are cosmetics.口红和护发素都是化妆品。

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 infamy   

n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行

参考例句：

• They may grant you power,honour,and riches but afflict you with servitude,infamy,and poverty.他们可以给你权力、荣誉和财富，但却用奴役、耻辱和贫穷来折磨你。
• Traitors are held in infamy.叛徒为人所不齿。

6 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

7 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

8 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

9 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

10 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

11 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

12 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

13 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

14 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会