One and half tons of Rwandan coffee beans, equal to Rwandan Farmers Coffee Company (RFCC)’s total sales volume of 2019, were sold out in a second after Weiya, a top livestreaming host in China, announced a sale on Tmall.com, an online shopping platform of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba.
頂級「帶貨主播」薇婭在天貓上宣布開售的話音一落，產自盧安達的1.5噸咖啡豆1秒鐘內被搶購一空。這相當於盧安達農民咖啡公司過去一年的銷量。
5月14日，盧安達咖啡農觀看直播，看到咖啡秒光後歡呼。
The livestreaming promotion on May 14 attracted over 10 million viewers. 「This was truly amazing,」 Ernest Nshimiyimana, one of 4,000 Rwandan farmers who supply coffee to Kigali-based RFCC for sale, said after watching the promotion.
5月14日的直播吸引了1000多萬人在線觀看。盧安達咖啡農埃內斯特•恩希米伊馬納觀看了直播後說：「太驚人了！」 盧安達農民咖啡公司位於首都基加利，與4000名農民合作。恩希米伊馬納是其中之一。
Coffee farming is a pillar industry in Rwanda, with one in 30 people living off it. Grown in naturally rich volcanic soil at high altitude, Arabica coffee beans sold by the company are known for delicious flavor and high aroma. However, due to the pandemic, the shipping cost of cargo flights has doubled and orders from Europe and the U.S. have plummeted, leaving many coffee farmers in a dilemma at the harvest time.
咖啡種植是盧安達的支柱產業，每30個人中就有一個人以此為生。此次出售的阿拉比卡咖啡豆生長在自然肥沃的高海拔火山土壤中，憑其獨特的口感和香味廣受歡迎。然而，受新冠疫情影響，國際貨運的運輸成本翻倍，歐美市場訂單數量銳減。眾多咖啡農面臨收穫季節滯銷的窘境。
5月15日，在盧安達首都基加利，不同品牌的咖啡擺在商店貨架上出售。
Nshimiyimana said that they were really anxious about the coffee market. But the rapid sales of coffee beans in China helped ease their fears and restore their hope.
恩希米伊馬納說，他們一度對咖啡市場感到焦慮，但咖啡在中國的熱銷打消了他們的顧慮，讓他們重拾希望。
聯合國官方微博截圖
Vera Songwe, Under Secretary-General of United Nations (UN) and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, expressed her support for livestreaming promotion in a video message. She said that at the time when the global economic activities are stagnating, the continuing trade between China and Africa is of particular significance.
聯合國副秘書長、聯合國非洲經濟委員會執行秘書維拉•松圭在一段視頻中表達了她對直播帶貨的支持。她表示，在全球經濟活動幾乎停滯之際，中非貿易不中斷，意義重大。
Facilitated by Alibaba’s Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) initiative, the livestreaming promotion aimed to help Rwandan farmers tide over current difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as introduce more high-quality products to Chinese consumers.
在阿里巴巴世界電子貿易平臺（eWTP）的助力下，這場直播旨在幫助盧安達農民克服疫情帶來的困難，向中國消費者推介更多高品質產品。
5月14日，盧安達駐華大使詹姆斯•基蒙約（左）在北京遠程視頻連線參與直播，推薦盧安達咖啡。
Currently, through cooperation under eWTP, Rwandan farmers can earn another $4 per kg on T-Mall.com since their coffee beans are sold directly to consumers, according to James Kimonyo, Rwanda’s Ambassador to China.
盧安達駐華大使詹姆斯•基蒙約表示，通過與eWTP的合作，咖啡豆能夠越過中間商，直接銷售給消費者。如此一來，在天貓上每賣出一公斤咖啡豆，盧安達農民可以多賺4美元。
「We are grateful to Chinese e-commerce platforms for bringing hope to our farmers, so they can continue to participate in global trade,」 said Kimonyo, during a video call with Weiya.
基蒙約在與薇婭視頻連線時說：「感謝中國電商為我們的農民帶來希望，讓他們能夠繼續參與到全球貿易中來。」
Proposed by Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, eWTP aims to improve the policy and business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in cross-border electronic trade. Rwanda and Alibaba launched eWTP in October 2018, making it the first African country to launch the platform.
eWTP由阿里巴巴創始人馬雲提出，旨在改善中小企業參與跨境電子貿易的政策和商業環境。2018年10月，盧安達和阿里巴巴籤約，成為首個共同建設eWTP的非洲國家。
Latest data from the General Administration of Customs shows that China’s trade in goods with Africa totaled 385.36 billion yuan ($53.96 billion) in the first four months of 2020.
中國海關總署發布的最新數據顯示，今年1—4月中非貨物貿易進出口總額為3853.6億元（約合539.6億美元）。
Liu Haifang, Director of the Center for African Studies at Peking University, told People’s Daily that under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese enterprises can cooperate with their African counterparts in diverse fields such as training and digital economy, which will bring opportunities to the African market in the post-pandemic era. China-Africa trade is resilient. Bilateral cooperation can create a large number of jobs for Africa and promote the long-term economic development of the continent.
北京大學非洲研究中心主任劉海方在接受《人民日報》記者採訪時說，在「一帶一路」合作框架下，中國企業在非洲開展培訓、數字經濟等多元化的產業合作，將給疫情後的非洲市場帶來大量機遇。他表示，中非貿易具有韌性，中非合作能為非洲大陸創造大量就業，促進非洲經濟的長遠發展。
（本文編譯自新華社、人民網相關報導，圖片源自新華社）