The age-old sharing economies of Africa -- and why we should scale them | Robert Neuwirth

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Yanyan Hong

So what I'm doing

我在做的，

is a thought experiment.

是一個思想實驗。

Now you may know of or have read

你們可能知道或讀過

this book by this guy.

這個傢伙寫的這本書。

It's probably the first and maybe the only bestseller

這可能是暢銷書中 第一次也是唯一一次出現

ever written about economics.

關於經濟的書。

And you probably know a bit about what it says.

你可能多少知道一點它的內容。

It talks about how nations all over the world will prosper

它談的是全世界的國家要如何透過

through the individual pursuit of individual profit.

個人對於個人利益的追求來繁榮。

Individual profit will be the mechanism for the prosperity of the world.

個人利益會是世界繁榮的機制。

But the funny thing about Adam Smith

但亞當史密斯（Adam Smith） 有一點十分有趣，

is that he was a stay-at-home kind of guy.

那就是，他是個宅男。

He actually never went further from Edinburgh

實際上，他從來沒有 從愛丁堡去到任何

than France and Switzerland.

比法國和瑞士更遠的地方。

So my thought experiment is to imagine

所以，我的思想實驗是要想像

what would have happened if Adam Smith had visited Africa.

如果亞當史密斯造訪過 非洲，會發生什麼事。

And fortunately, there's actually an easy answer,

幸運地，有個很簡單的答案，

because the Arab lawyer and traveler Ibn Battuta

因為阿拉伯律師及旅人伊本巴圖塔

traveled down the east coast of Africa in the 14th century,

在十四世紀時， 沿著非洲的東岸旅行，

and what he found when he got to Mogadishu was a market,

當他到達摩加迪休時， 他發現了一個市場，

and he wrote about it.

這成為他的寫作素材。

And basically, merchant ships came to the harbor,

基本上，商人會乘船來到海港，

and they weren't even allowed to land.

他們甚至不被允許登陸。

They had to drop anchor in the harbor,

他們得要在海港拋下錨，

and boats came out to them,

再搭小船出來，

and locals picked them and said, "You are my guest, I am now your broker."

當地人會挑選他們，說：「你是 我的客人，我現在是你的仲介。」

And they had to do business through the local broker,

他們得要透過當地仲介來做生意，

and if they went around that and didn't do business through the broker,

如果他們想走別的門路， 不透過仲介來做生意，

they could go to court, and the deal would be canceled,

他們可能要上法庭， 且交易就會被取消，

and they would be thrown out of town.

他們會被丟出鎮外。

And through this mechanism, everyone prospered.

透過這個機制，人人都有賺頭。

And so if that was Adam Smith, he might look like this guy

換成是亞當史密斯， 他可能就會像這個傢伙，

and say, "Ah! That's a mutual aid society.

說：「啊！那是個互助的社會。

That's a share-the-wealth free market."

那是個財富共享的自由市場。」

And when I put this question to Christian [Benimana],

當我問克利斯汀班尼馬納這個問題，

who had the stage at the beginning of this session,

他在這段議程的開頭有上台演說，

he responded that if Adam Smith had come to Africa,

他的回應是，如果 亞當史密斯去過非洲，

there would have been a sharing economy long before Airbnb and Uber.

共享經濟的出現就會 遠比 Airbnb 和 Uber 早許多。

And that's true.

那是真的。

So if we put this to work today,

如果我們把它放到現今這個時代，

it would be very interesting.

會非常有意思。

There would be a lot of money flowing into the countries.

會有很多錢流入國家。

These are just figures of 10 percent of exports in these countries.

這些數字只是這些國家出口的 10%。

So the interesting thing is that this mutual aid economy still exists,

有趣的地方在於， 這種互助經濟仍然存在，

and we can find examples of it in the strangest places.

我們能在最奇怪的地方找到例子。

So, this is Alaba International Market.

這是阿拉巴國際市場。

It's the largest electronics market in West Africa.

它是西非最大的電子產品市場。

It's 10,000 merchants,

有一萬個商家，

they do about four billion dollars of turnover every year.

他們每年的營業額 大約是四十億美元。

And they say they are ardent apostles of Adam Smith:

他們說他們是 亞當史密斯的忠誠信徒：

competition is great, we're all in it individually,

競爭很好，我們都 以個人身分參與其中，

government doesn't help us.

政府對我們沒有幫助。

But the interesting reality is that when I asked further,

但有趣的現實是， 當我進一步詢問時，

that's not what grew the market at all.

發現那完全不是讓市場成長的原因。

There's a behind-the-scenes principle

幕後還有些原則在，

that enables this market to grow.

是這些原則讓市場成長。

And they do claim -- you know, this is an interesting juxtaposition

他們確實宣稱—— 你們知道的，將欽定版聖經

of the King James Bible and "How To Sell Yourself."

與《如何推銷你自己》 放在一起，是種有趣的並列。

That's what they say is their message.

那就是他們的訊息中所說的內容。

But in reality, this market is governed by a sharing principle.

但在現實中，這個市場 是用共享原則來管理的。

Every merchant, when you ask them, "How did you get started in global trade?"

你問任何一位商人： 「你何時開始做全球貿易的？」

they say, "Well, when my master settled me."

他們會說：「嗯， 當我的師父把我安置好時。」

And when I finally got it into my head to ask, "What is this 'settling?'"

我終於突然想到要問： 「這種『安置』是什麼？」

it turns out that when you've done your apprenticeship

結果發現，在你跟著僱主當學徒的

with someone you work for,

見習期完成之後，

they are required -- required -- to set you up in business.

他們必須要，「必須要」 幫你建立事業。

That means paying your rent for two or three years

那就表示要幫你付兩或三年的房租，

and giving you a cash infusion

給你現金資本，

so you can go out in the world and start trading.

讓你可以走出去並開始交易。

That's locally generated venture capital. Right?

那是當地自產的創業投資，對吧？

And I can say with almost certainty

我幾乎可以肯定地說，

that the Igbo apprenticeship system that governs Alaba International Market

管理阿拉巴國際市場的伊布學徒體制

is the largest business incubator platform in the world.

是世界上最大的創業育成平台。

And there are other sharing economies that we look for --

我們還尋找其他共享經濟——

merry-go-rounds, which are found in almost every shantytown.

幾乎在每個貧民區 都可以看到「旋轉木馬」。

They have different names in other cultures; this is the Kenyan name.

在不同的文化中，「旋轉木馬」 有不同的名字，這是肯亞的用詞。

It's a way of generating cash.

它是一種產生現金的方式。

It's a kitty -- people throw money into a pot once a week,

共同湊出一筆錢——每週一次， 大家把錢投入罐中，

and once a week, one member of the group gets the money,

每週一次，團體中的 一個成員會去取錢，

and they can spend it on whatever they need to.

他們可以把錢花在任何需要的地方。

And there's also something called "acequias,"

還有所謂的「灌溉水渠 （acequias）」，

and that is a Spanish word, but it comes from the North African Arabic;

它是西班牙語， 但來自北非的阿拉伯字；

"saqiya" means "water wheel."

「saqiya」意思是「水輪」。

And what the acequia is is a sharing system for scarce water.

灌溉水渠則是種 稀少水資源的共享系統。

It's migrated from North Africa to Spain,

它被從北非移往西班牙，

and from Spain to the west of the United States,

再從西班牙移往美國西部，

where it still is used.

現在在那裡都還有使用。

And it shares water by need

這個系統是根據需求來分享水，

rather than by who was there first.

而不是根據誰先到。

And contrary, with all due respect, to what Llew [Claasen] said

沒有不敬的意思，但這和盧克拉森

when he talked about blockchains and cryptocurrencies yesterday,

昨天在談到車鏈 和密碼貨幣時所說的相反，

there is no tragedy of the commons.

沒有公地悲劇。

People in acequias have been commonly managing scarce water resources

在灌溉水渠中的人， 一直都共同管理著稀有的水資源，

for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years.

數百年來都是如此。

So taking this thought experiment, I wanted to go a little bit further

所以，我把這個思想實驗 再更進一步，

and suggest that these things are managed communally,

我認為

這些東西是以公有的方式來管理的，

and they are taking care of scarce capital, scarce cash

他們能處理稀有資本、稀有現金，

and scarce resources.

以及稀有資源。

And it seems to me that we have actually two kinds of capitalism.

在我看來，我們似乎有兩種資本主義。

We have the capitalism of the top up.

有「由上而上」的資本主義。

And these are really interesting statistics,

這些統計數字很有意思，

because three one-thousandths of one percent of the Nigerian population

因為奈及利亞人口 1% 的千分之三

controls wealth equal to one-fourth of the GDP of the country.

所控制的財富等同於 該國 GDP 的四分之一。

One one-hundredth of one percent of the Kenyan population

肯亞人口 1% 的百分之一

controls wealth equal to 75 percent of the GDP of the country.

所控制的財富等同於該國 GDP 的 75%。

That's the capitalism of top up.

這就是由上而上的資本主義。

And everyone else is with this guy,

所有其他人就和這個傢伙一樣，

selling board games and bodybuilding equipment

在拉哥斯的公路上的緩慢車流中

in a go-slow on the highway in Lagos.

銷售桌上遊戲以及健身器材，

And when you're selling board games and bodybuilding equipment in a go-slow,

當你在緩慢車流中 銷售桌上遊戲和健身器材時，

that traffic jam is really, really, really bad, right?

塞車狀況一定是非常非常糟，對吧？

Those of us in this sphere of the economy

在這層經濟中的我們這些人

are caught in what I call "the capitalism of decay,"

碰到的是我所謂的 「衰退的資本主義」，

because there's no way to rise up and get out of it,

因為不可能爬起來，從中脫出，

because they're lacking the resources that we talked about

因為他們沒有我們 在談那些共享經濟時，

in those sharing economies.

談到的那些資源。

And they're tripped up

他們被樹薯論點

by the thesis of cassava and capitalism,

以及資本主義給絆倒了，

that cassava has to be processed in order not to be poisonous,

樹薯必須要經過處理才不會有毒，

and I would argue that, similarly,

同樣地，我的主張是，

the market economy needs to be processed in order to be fair to everyone.

市場經濟需要被處理過， 才能對每個人都公平。

So we have to look at what I call the "bottom down economy."

所以我們得要看看我所謂的 「由下而下的經濟」。

These are these sharing models that exist out there

外頭還存在有這些共享模型，

that need to be propagated and used and scaled.

它們需要被傳播、被使用、被擴大。

OK?

好嗎？

And if we propagate these things,

如果我們傳播這些東西，

we can begin to bring infrastructure to everyone,

我們就能開始將基礎建設帶給每個人，

and that will ensure that communities

那就能確保社區

are leading their own development,

能引領它們自己的發展，

which is, I believe, what we need in the world,

而我相信，這就是 我們在世界上所需要的，

and, I would suggest, what we need in Africa.

且，我會說，它也是 我們在非洲所需要的。

I wanted to quote Steve Biko,

我想要引述史蒂夫比科的話，

and I thought it was really important to quote Steve Biko,

我認為引述他的話是很重要的，

because next month, September 12 to be exact,

因為，下個月， 明確來說是 9 月 12 日，

is the 40th anniversary of his murder by the South African state.

就是他被南非國家謀殺的四十週年。

And you can read the quote.

你們可以讀讀這句引述。

He basically said that we're not here to compete.

基本上，他說， 我們不是來這裡競爭的。

And I love this quote: "... to make us a community of brothers and sisters

我很愛這句引述：「……讓我們 成為一個兄弟姐妹的共同體，

jointly involved in the quest for a composite answer

聯合起來，一起為人生的各種問題，

to the varied problems of life."

尋求一個複合的答案。」

And he also said that "the great powers of the world

他也說：「世界上的偉大強權

have done wonders in giving us an industrial and military look, ..."

已經創造了奇蹟，給予我們 工業和軍事的外表……」

and we don't have to copy that military-industrialist complex,

我們不需複製那軍事實業家的情結，

because Africa can do things differently

因為非洲能用不同的方式來做事，

and restore the humanity of the world.

並恢復世界的人性。

And so what I want to suggest here

所以，這裡我想點出的是，

is that we have an opportunity,

我們有一個機會，

that we are all here in the mutual landscape

我們都在這裡， 在這個相互的地景上，

to be able to do things,

能夠去做事，

and that the journey starts now.

而那旅程，從現在開始。

Thank you very much.

非常謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）