VOA常速英语2007-Sub-Saharan Africa at Bottom of Competitiveness

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
31 October 2007

The World Economic Forum¹ says the United States tops the overall ranking in this year's Global Competitiveness report, followed by Switzerland and the Nordic countries. It says, in Sub-Saharan Africa, only South Africa and Mauritius feature in the top half of the rankings, with several countries from the region at the very bottom. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva, where the report was released.

The report says the United States tops all other countries because it has the most sophisticated and innovative² companies operating in very efficient markets. Senior economist³ at the World Economic Forum, Irene Mia, calls this a winning combination.

She says the United States also has an excellent university system and strong collaboration⁴ between the educational and business sectors⁵, in research and development, gives it an edge over other economies.

"Overall the assessment⁶ is still number one, but we have to be careful," she said. There is also an index actually pointing to a potential problem in the long-term and the sub-prime mortgage is actually a reflection of that. There are serious micro-economic imbalances, which need to be addressed at some point."

Mia says the high level of U.S. debt and deficits⁷ is a concern.

The report looks at 12 different areas of competitiveness, to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a country's business climate. This year, more than 11,000 business leaders were polled in 131 countries.

The World Economic Forum sees the rankings as a way for countries to compare themselves with more successful economies and against their past performances to see how they can improve their competitiveness.

The report finds Europe, overall, is doing quite well in its business practices, as is the Asia -Pacific region. But, with the exception of South Africa and Mauritius, it finds sub-Saharan Africa lagging. Mia says this is largely because of Africa's many structural⁸ weaknesses.

"The quality of infrastructure⁹; The quality and transparency of the public institutions; level of education; and, also what is a big weakness for Africa overall is the state of the health in general," she said. "It is still the (continent) with the lowest ranking in the main disease rates."

Despite its drop in this year's rankings, the report finds Botswana continues to be relatively¹⁰ successful, by regional standards. It is ranked 76th - the third best performance in sub-Saharan Africa. In contrast, Mia says Zimbabwe puts in a dismal¹¹ performance. It is ranked 129 out of 131 countries. And, she says the situation is worsening.

"Micro-economy is not stable at all and this is a big concern," she said. "Spiraling inflation and the very high level of public debt and transparency of public institutions is a big concern."

The Report finds 95th ranked Nigeria has lots of potential, but is not taking advantage of its windfall oil revenues. It says it needs to upgrade the population's access to basic health care and education and to improve its infrastructure, if it wants to become truly competitive.

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

3 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

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 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

7 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

8 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

9 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。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。