VOA常速英语:Entrepreneur: ’Anyone Can Play a Role’ in African Innovation

As a business consultant in Legos, Afua Osei routinely met women who are looking for ways to advance professionally but didn’t know how.
作为乐高玩具的一名商业顾问，艾弗华·欧塞（Afua Osei）经常遇到正在寻找专业发展途径，但不知道如何做的女性。

They needed guidance and mentoring.
他们需要指导和顾问。

“I didn’t plan to be an entrepreneur. I had a really great job. I loved doing that work but I saw an opening.And I think many of us we complain all the time we’re like.Why isn’t this happening or someone should do something about this or why isn’t government doing this.And instead of complaining I decided to take action and try to solve the problem myself.”
“我不打算成为一名企业家。我有一个非常棒的工作。我喜欢做这项工作，但我看到了改革的开端。而且我觉得我们很多人都好像在不停地抱怨。为什么没有出现这样的情况,或者应该有人来做这件事，又或者为什么政府不这样做。我不是抱怨，而是决定采取行动，并尝试自己解决问题。”

Osei and her colleague Yasmine Belo-Osagie started the digital platform. She leaves Africa.It now has an online community of 300,000 in 35 countries in Africa and throughout the diaspora.
欧塞和她的同事亚斯明·贝罗·奥萨基（Yasmine Belo-Osagie）开创了数字平台。她离开非洲。现在她们开创的在线社区吸引了非洲35个国家和散居的30万网民。

“Anyone can be an innovator.” Osei says.“Being in technology, you don’t have to look a certain way.It’s not just for one type of person. It’s open to anybody.Anybody can play a role, and there’s so much work to be done and there’s so many great opportunities that can come from this.Osei sees potential in Africa.The continent has some fast-growing economies and the world’s fastest growing population.Its 1.2 billion population is projected to almost double by 2050, but she says Africa also holds challenge for entrepreneurs.
“每个人都可以为改革贡献力量。”欧塞说。“你不必用某种特定方式看待技术。”它不是服务于某个类型的人。它对每个人都开放。每个人都可以扮演一个角色，而且还有很多工作需要做，而且这里还存在这么多好机会。欧塞看到了非洲的潜力。非洲大陆有一些快速增长的经济体，人口增长也居世界首位。到2050年，其12亿人口预计将翻一番，但她也表示非洲也在挑战着企业家。

"Dealing with polices and governments can be hard. Also, distributions.How can I get a product that I made in Lagos out here to Austin, right?”So when I think about the challenges, I think that that’s what we’re here for, right?We’re here to break down those barriers and to find solutions to those problems.She leads Africa deals with problem-solving.It started by an accelerator, a three-month development program to assist women-lead startups in Nigeria.Cherae Robinson won a spot in the program and 10,000 in seed money for a specialty travel company.
“处理政策和与政府交涉都是很困难的事情。分销也是个问题。我怎样才能把这里我制造的乐高产品造的产品销售到到奥斯汀，对不对？”所以我想到这些困难的时候，会认为这就是我们到这来的目标，对吧？我们到这来是为了打破障碍、寻求解决方法的。她用解决问题的思路，带领着促成非洲的交易。从一个为期三个月的发展计划开始做起，这个计划起催化作用，旨在帮助尼日利亚女性所创立的公司。在该计划中，车里·罗宾森（Cherae Robinson）获得了一席之地，并为一家专业旅游公司赢得了1万的原始资本。

She said, it provided her a world of knowledge she did not have.Entrepreneurs often have to navigate complicated government regulations and licensing requirements.Osei suggests collaborating with key government personnels who understand technology.I think it’s important for technology leaders to take the lead of course and to be innovative in how we communicate to government because they are learning just as much as we are.Osei and Belo-Osagie have big plans.They want to reach 1 million subscribers for their website.As the site says, it’s for “the ladies who want to build million-dollar companies, lead corporate organizations and crush it as leaders.”
她说，这里向她展示了一个她以前从未见过的知识世界。一般而言，企业家必须能够处理复杂的政府法规和许可要求。欧塞建议企业家与懂技术的关键政府人员开展合作。我认为，技术领导者当然要带头，而且在与政府沟通方面敢于创新，这一点很重要，因为他们的学习和我们一样多。欧塞和贝罗·奥萨基有着宏伟的计划。他们希望订阅她们网站的用户达到1百万。正如这个网站所说，这是为了“想要建立价值百万美元公司，领导企业或组织，并打造自己为领导者的女性所准备的。”

Tigskami VOA news Austin, Texas
美国之音提格斯卡米，德克萨斯州奥斯汀报道