Imagine if your daily commute involved tens of kilometers on these kinds of roads, driving this kind of vehicle, without any nearby service stations or breakdown assistance.
来想象一下,你每天上下班要在 这种路上开数十公里, 你开的车是这样质量的车, 而且路上没有任何服务站或者修车站。
For millions of drivers in many parts of Africa, this is the norm. Since over 90 percent of passenger cars are imported, often used, they're just not designed for local usage. High import duties often compound the problem, sometimes doubling the price of a car. So most vehicles are either too expensive or too unreliable for the average consumer. Well-designed vehicles are only part of the transport challenge, though. For every 100 adults in Africa, less than five people actually own a vehicle. Public transport is available, and in countries like Kenya, it's often run by local entrepreneurs using minivans like this. But in most rural and peri-urban areas, it's fragmented and unreliable. In more remote areas without transport, people have to walk, typically tens of kilometers, to get to school or collect clean drinking water or buy supplies from nearby markets. Bad roads, disparate communities, low average income levels and inadequate vehicles all impair the transport system and ultimately constrain economic output.
这其实对几百万非洲车主来说, 最平常不过了。 他们用的车里超过 90% 的是进口车, 常常是二手车, 不是为当地用途而设计的。 进口税常使问题更严重, 因为有时进口税和车价一样。 所以大多的车 对一般的消费者来说不是 太贵就是太不可靠。 车的设计只是交通运输的众多挑战之一。 在非洲, 有车族只占 成人人口的 5%。 公共交通是另外一个选择。 在肯尼亚等国家, 公共交通是由私营企业 用这样的面包车运作的。 但在大多数农村和市郊, 公共交通是支零破碎和不可靠的。 更偏远的地方完全没有公共交通, 人们只能走多至数十公里去 去上学或者取食用水 或者买日用品。 路况糟糕,居住区分散,人均收入低, 还有质量差的车辆 都在削弱整个运输系统 并让经济产量止步不前。
Despite this constraint, the Pan-African economy is booming. Combined GDP is already over two trillion dollars. This is a massive commercial and social opportunity, not a helpless continent. So why isn't there already something better? Around the world, automotive is quarter the manufacturing sector. But in Africa, it's generally been overlooked by carmakers, who are focused on larger, established markets and emerging economies like India and China. This lack of industrialization, which itself creates a vicious-cycle barrier to the emergence of industry, has caused the dependence on imports. There is a supply-demand disconnect, with the vast majority of automotive spending on the continent today, essentially funding an international network of car exporters instead of fueling the growth of local industry.
尽管这样,非洲的经济还是日益繁荣。 它的综合生产总值已经超过2兆亿。 非洲是一个很巨大的经济和社会机会。 不是一个无助的大陆。 那为什么它的运输系统仍没有改善呢? 汽车工业占了全世界制造业的四分之一。 但是汽车公司很少考虑非洲, 更多的时候他们都在关注 已经建立起来的市场, 和印度和中国这些新兴经济。 非洲本身缺少工业化, 而工业化又是向新兴经济发展 必走的一步, 所以形成了依赖进口车的恶性循环。 供和求的断开了, 过多的资源被用于购买进口车 和发展车进口商的国际网络, 而不是用于帮助本地工业的发展。
It's entirely possible to solve this disconnect, though, starting with products that people actually want. And this is what motivated me to start Mobius, to build a vehicle in Africa, for Africa. To us, this meant reimagining the car around the needs of the consumer, simplifying nonessential features like interior fixtures and investing in performance-critical systems like suspension to create durable and affordable vehicles built for purpose.
这个供和求的断开是可以解决的, 由开发人们真正需要的产品开始。 这就是我创立 Mobius 的动力, 在非洲制造非洲需要的车。 这意味着围绕着消费者的需要 重新设计一辆车。 简化不必要的产品特征, 比如车内的装修, 和重点投资性能系统, 比如悬架, 以此目的制造出 耐用和经济的车。
And built for purpose is exactly where we started with our first-generation model, Mobius II, which was designed as a really rugged, low-cost SUV, able to handle heavy loads and rough terrain reliably. This launched in 2015, and we've now developed the next-generation version based on customer feedback. For high stress and heavy loading, we engineered a sturdy steel space frame. To handle acute vibration from rough roads, we ruggedized the suspension. For potholes and uneven terrain, high ground clearance was a no-brainer. And to make this something customers could actually be proud to drive in, we designed an aspirational body aesthetic. Underpinning all of this, we simplified or eliminated components like parking sensors and automatic windows wherever we could, to keep costs low and sell this at half the price of a five-year-old SUV in Kenya today.
以此目的我们 开发出了第一代产品, Mobius II, 产品的定位是价位低,牢靠的 , 能够应付糟糕的路况和崎岖的地形的SUV。 这个车在2015年上市。 基于顾客的反馈, 我们已经开发了第二代的产品。 为了更好地应付高压和重负, 我们开发了一个更稳固的框架。 为了让车更好地应付崎岖的道路 引起的震动, 我们加固了悬架。 由于地面普遍坑洼, 车的高度必须调高。 还要让顾客开车时有自豪感, 我们为车设计了适合 仰慕群体的美学的外形。 从根本上, 我们尽量简化和 取消了很多部分, 比如停车传感器和自动车窗。 为了就是 把成本降到最低, 和把价位定到一辆有五年车龄 旧车的价格的一半。
The new --
新的
(Applause)
(掌声)
The new Mobius II launches in 2018. And while durable, affordable vehicles like this are vital, a broader solution to immobility needs to go further.
第二代车将在2018 上市。 性能和价位很重要, 但我们需要拓展 我们解决交通问题的方式。
Over the last decade, a transport-centric, shared economy has connected people across Africa with minivans, auto rickshaws and sedans. It's just not operated very effectively or efficiently. Enabling better access to transport is all about strengthening this public transit network, empowering local entrepreneurs who already offer similar services in their communities to operate these services more profitably and more widely. With this aim, we're taking human-centered design a step further and developing a transport platform model, which enables owners to plug in different modules, like a goods cage or ambulance unit, and run other services like goods delivery or medical transport, as well as public transport. Transportation services like this are the fundamental driver of logistics, trade, social services, access to education, health care and employment. The transportation grid to physical economies is akin to the internet to virtual economies. And the impact of increased mobility is only part of the potential here.
过去十年里, 一个以交通为中心的分享经济开始 用面包车,自动人力车和轿子 把全非洲的人连接。 但它在运作上并无多大成效。 让人们更方便地使用交通工具, 就需要加强这个公共交通网络 使当地的提供 相似服务的创业者 获得更高的利润和开拓业务。 以这个为目标, 我们把以人为中心的设计推进一步, 成立了一个 让车主即插即用的交通平台, 比如载货车或者救护车, 或者提供其他送货和医疗运输的服务, 和公共交通。 这种交通服务是 后勤, 商业, 社会服务, 教育, 医疗和就业的基本。 运输网络对物质经济 如同互联网对虚拟经济。 增加的可动性只是潜力的一部分。
Since the late 1700s, the Industrial Revolution has catapulted the development of economies around the world into thriving societies. Today, manufacturing is still the engine of economic growth and stability, even as new technologies have inevitably transformed the way we live. Making stuff is important, especially for nation-states wanting to boost employment, increase skills and reduce import dependence. But while few countries can skip this industrialized stage, many have negligible manufacturing output. There are various reasons for this, but one reason is universal: hardware is hard.
从18 世纪末期起,工业革命已经 推动了全世界的经济的发展。 现在,制造业仍旧是 经济发展和稳定的引擎, 尽管新技术已经 改变我们的生活方式。 制造业很重要, 尤其对一个需要增加就业率的 增加国民技术, 减少对进口物资的依赖的国家而言。 虽然少数国家可以 完全跳过工业化的阶段, 很多国家的制造业有微不足道的产量。 原因有很多, 当一个普遍的原因是,硬件是很难的。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
So what are the challenges to industry, and how are we approaching them? The first issue many people think of is a lack of skilled labor. In areas where access to good primary and secondary education are limited and employment opportunities are scarce, a small skill base is inevitable. But that doesn't mean it's immutable. There's an abundance of smart, hardworking and ambitious people in Africa, obviously. What's really lacking are good jobs that offer a path not just to employment but also professional growth. The first person we employed at Mobius over six years ago was a mechanic named Kazungu. Kazungu had gone to school up to the age of 18 and worked as an odd-job mechanic. Joining the company at the time was a near-vertical learning curve. But he rose to the challenge, and with more technical guidance from an expanding engineering team, he's grown over the years to lead a group of mechanics in R&D prototyping. A thirst for learning and the work ethic to step up to a challenge are values we now recruit on. Pairing innate values like this with on-the-job training and systems has strengthened our skill base. This works really well on the production line, where work can be systematized around clear procedural instructions and then reinforced through training. In our experience, it is possible to build a skilled workforce, and we plan to hire hundreds more people using this approach.
那么对工业的挑战有哪些, 而我们应该如何应对? 人们首先会想到技术工的短缺。 在小学和中学教育有限的, 和就业机会不足的地方, 技术工基础过小是不可避免的。 但这不是不可改变的。 很显然,非洲充满了聪明的, 勤劳的, 和有雄心的人。 真正短缺的是好的 而且帮助员工成长的工作。 六年前,第一个被Mobius 雇佣的 人是一个叫 Kazungu 的机械工。 Kazungu在18岁之前一直在读书, 并打机械方面的零工。 在 Mobius,他的学习曲线几乎是直的, 但是他成功地应对了挑战, 在工程队的引导下, 他在这几年里 发展成了研发样板的机械工队伍领导人。 对知识的渴望,工作道德和接受挑战 是我们招聘员工的条件。 把这些内在品质和在职培训结合在一起 帮助我们增强我们的技术基础。 这在生产线上有很好的体现, 因为工作是系统性地 围绕着清楚的程序进行的, 和在在职培训里加强的。 以我们的经验, 这样我们可以雇佣几百人来 建造一个有技术的劳工基础。
A second challenge is a lack of suppliers. In countries like Kenya, there are only a handful of automotive suppliers manufacturing parts like electrical harnesses, seats and glass. It's a burgeoning group, and without much demand from industry, most of these suppliers have no impetus to grow. We've worked hard with a few of them to develop the capacity to consistently manufacture components at the quality levels we need, like this supplier in Nairobi, who are helping to reduce the production cost of metal brackets and improve their ability to build conformant parts to our engineering drawings. Supply and development is standard practice in automotive globally, but it needs to be applied from the ground up with a vast majority of local suppliers to properly bolster the ecosystem. And as production volumes rise, these suppliers can employ more staff, invest in better equipment and continue to develop new manufacturing techniques to further increase output.
第二个问题是,没有供应商。 像肯尼亚这样的国家, 电线束,车座和玻璃供应商只有几个。 这个群体在萌芽状态, 但是没有市场的需求, 这个群体没有增长的动力。 我们努力地帮他们扩展他们的容量, 和改善质量。 比如这个在内罗毕的供应商, 我们帮他们减低生产成本, 提高他们按照我们的图纸生产 和规格的零件。 供货和发展是全球汽车 制造业的标准常规, 我们需要把它应用到 大多数的本地供应商上 来增强生态系统。 当产量上升后, 这些供应商会雇佣更多的员工, 投资买更好的设备, 和继续发展新的制造技术, 以增加产量。
Building up skills and suppliers are not the only hurdles to local industrialization, but they're good examples of how we think about the challenge. You see, we're not just reimagining the car, we're reimagining our entire value chain. None of this has been easy, and we're only just getting started. But once African industry starts to scale, the potential is huge. Better products, costing less, built locally, together creating millions of jobs. Frugal innovation offers a path to economic acceleration across many industries, and the future of this continent depends on it.
在地方工业化的期间, 我们遇到的阻碍还不止 培养技术和供应商, 但是他们是让我们考虑挑战的好例子。 你看, 我们不止于要重新想象车, 我们要重新想象整个供应链。 没有一样是容易的, 而我们才刚刚开始。 非洲工业开始矿大规模后, 潜力是很大的。 更好的产品, 更低的成本, 当地生产, 制造上百万的就业机会。 节俭的创新是可以加速 很多工业的增长的, 而且非洲大陆的未来就靠它了。
The Africa 2.0 I believe in can apply locally relevant design and a commitment to solving its industrial challenges to create a more connected, more prosperous future, not just for the privileged few, but for everyone.
我相信,非洲2.0 可以应用到适合每个区域的设计, 解决工业挑战的承诺, 和建设一个更连接的和更繁荣的未来 并不只属于有特权的少数人, 而属于所有人。
Thank you.
谢谢。
(Applause)
(掌声)。