介绍:
Tech startups in Africa 非洲初创企业
Africa uber alles 非洲优步
The potential and pitfalls of African tech innovation
主播：凤梨君 个人微信号：fenglisama 微信公众号：EnglishQiPa
Apr 23rd 2016 | KIGALI | From the print edition
THE fastest, and cheapest, way to zip around the hilly capital of Rwanda is to catch one of the many motorcycle taxis, or motos, that attract custom by hooting at pedestrians as they drive along. Grab a ride on one and you can nip from one end of Kigali to the other for less than $1.
1 pitfall |ˈpɪtfɔ:l| 危险；困难；（尤指）陷阱，隐患 2 zip |zɪp| （使沿某方向）快速移动 3 hilly |ˈhɪli| 多小山的;丘陵起伏的 4 hoot |hu:t|（使汽车喇叭）鸣响 5 pedestrian |pəˈdestriən| 行人；步行者6 grab |græb| 抓住；攫取 7 nip |nɪp| 快速去（某处）；急忙赶往 8 Kigali [kiˈɡɑ:li] 基加利（卢旺达首都）
Yet catching a ride is a white-knuckle affair. Drivers seldom expect repeat custom so make no effort to be nice (which can be a welcome respite from over-chatty London cabbies). Most want to finish the journey quickly to look for their next fare. So many of them race about the city as if in a grand prix: they speed around blind corners, brake sharply at the very last minute and take off from traffic lights quickly enough almost to unseat an inattentive passenger.
1 white-knuckle 令人极度紧张的 2 knuckle |ˈnʌkl| 指节；指关节 3 respite |ˈrespaɪt; 美 ˈrespɪt| 暂停；暂缓 4 cabby |ˈkæbi| 计程车司机 5 fare |feə(r); 美 fer| 出租车乘客 6 prix[pri:] 奖金，价格 7 brake |breɪk| 用闸减速；刹（车） 8 unseat |ˌʌnˈsi:t| 使掉下马（或自行车） 9 inattentive |ˌɪnəˈtentɪv| 不注意的；不经心 10 a grand prix 大奖赛
The solution, according to two entrepreneurs, Peter Kariuki, a Kenyan, and Barrett Nash, a Canadian, is an Uber-style app that not only allows passengers to hail a ride, but also gives them some hope of surviving the journey. Their firm, SafeMotos, insists that taxi drivers own a smartphone, which contains accelerometers that can determine if drivers speed or brake too hard, among other things. The data they collect score the drivers on safety. Only safe ones get business.
1 hail |heɪl| 招手（请出租车或公共汽车停下） 2 accelerometer |əkˌseləˈrɒmɪtə(r); 美 -ˈrɑ:m-| 加速计
Uber, the car-hailing app valued at $51 billion, and local startups have launched similar motorcycle-taxi services in various countries from Indonesia to Uganda, but SafeMotos is more than just a clone. Whereas in many other countries drivers are comfortable using digital maps on their phones, SafeMoto uses a simpler system: directing drivers via a series of well-known waypoints until they are close to the final destination.
1 clone |kləʊn; 美 kloʊn| 好像一模一样的人；复制品；仿造品；翻版 2 waypoint |ˈweɪpɔɪnt| （旅途中的）停留处； 航路点（飞行或航海每一阶段的坐标点）
Yet the experience of SafeMotos also underscores some of the difficulties of establishing tech startups in Africa. Its founders say that the main problem many face is a shortage of skilled coders. There is no real ecosystem of tech entrepreneurs who can bounce ideas around, or inspire bright young people to quit safe jobs in the civil service and start their own companies. This is slowly changing. Technology hubs, where startups cluster in shared office space, in Nairobi, Cape Town and Lagos are producing promising companies and attracting international attention. Last year African tech firms raised $186m in funding, says Disrupt Africa, an analyst, and it has finally produced a “unicorn”, or tech company valued at more than $1 billion. Yet plagued by power shortages, expensive and unreliable internet connections, and ruinous bank rates, the continent has a way to go.
1 underscore |ˌʌndəˈskɔ:(r); 美 -dərˈs-| 强调；突出；强化 2 bounce |baʊns| 弹跳; 使弹起; （使）上下晃动; 3 ecosystem |ˈi:kəʊsɪstəm; 美 ˈi:koʊ-|生态系统 4 cluster |ˈklʌstə(r)|群聚；聚集 5 unicorn |ˈju:nɪkɔ:n; 美 -kɔ:rn| 独角兽 6 plague |pleɪg| 纠缠；缠磨；缠扰 7 ruinous |ˈru:ɪnəs|耗资巨大的；无法承担的，破坏性的；导致严重问题的；灾难性的
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