of over 14 million, itís the largest French-speaking city in the world.

The streets are bustling with activity.

Many people take on multiple jobs to get by.

Among them are couriers, street-sweepers, maggot sellers, bread

sellers, and jewelers.

Each day they count their earnings, dreaming of becoming one of

Congoís super-rich.

Everyone in Congo dreams of getting rich. Thereís money if you

know where to find it.

But large parts of the population live below the poverty line.

Albert is a fisherman. He earns less than one euro seventy cents per day.

Just opposite from his poor neighborhood live some of Congoís

richest people.

Thatís ìLa CitÈ du Fleuve.î The rich live there. They do business deals,

we catch fish.

The residential complex is for Congoís new upper class, including

the countryís millionaires.

Uninvited guests arenít allowed in.

Fally Ipupa has the kind of life most Congolese can only dream of.

I never imagined Iíd have multiple cars. I just wanted to sing and

make a name for myself in Kinshasa and in Africa.

Fally Ipupa is the DRCís biggest star, and heís known internationally. He

is also a multi-millionaire.

ant a photo?

My God, I love you man!

I love you too.

Heís just invested more than 600,000 euros in a new home in ìLa

CitÈ du Fleuve.î

Are the doors open? Go on, open them!

I really like being here, especially on Sundays. I can relax here. Iíve

always liked coming to the river with my family, so I decided to put

down a few bricks.

Those ìfew bricksî amount to a Californian style villa, which stands

out here in the DRC, one of the worldís poorest countries in terms

of GDP per capita.

It doesnít have to be that way. With its abundance of mineral

resources, the DRC could be one of the richest countries in Africa.

Mining is the countryís most important industry. Many of Fallyís

neighbors have made a fortune selling raw materials to a resource-

hungry world.

Fally likes to relax away from the hustle and bustle of the city center.

The Congo River is one of the longest in the world. For the local

fishermen, itís also vital to their livelihood. They recognize the

singer immediately.

They say theyíre my brothers. Iíll give them something. Fifty bucks.

Fally gets one of the marina workers to hand out a few notes.

This is a lot! We called out to him, and he gave us fifty bucks to share

amongst ourselves.

Each fisherman just got the equivalent of about seven euros,

the amount theyíd earn in a whole week.

These people have different problems than we do. They even

work on Sundays. I often give them a little something, even if itís

just so they can take home a treat for their children. Iím happy to do it.

Fally Ipupa is one of about 600 millionaires in the Democratic

Republic of Congo.

The DRC is the largest country in Central Africa, about six times the

size of Germany. Itís home to nearly 100 million people. Its

history is one of conflict and exploitation. The ongoing violence

has resulted in six million deaths in the past couple decades.

In 1965, Mobutu Sese Seko came to power. Nicknamed the ìLeopard of

Zaire,î he ruled for nearly 32 years, embezzling the equivalent of more

than four billion euros during his reign.

In 1996 civil war broke out. Militias, supported by neighboring countries,

enlisted thousands of child soldiers as they attempted to seize the

countryís wealth. Mobutu died a year later in exile.

2001 saw Joseph Kabila step into the political spotlight. During his 18

years in power, he amassed an estimated fortune of more than 13

billion euros. Because of its instability, the DRC is today

regarded as a failed state.

Weíre traveling across the Democratic Republic of Congo to

understand why some are getting richer and richer, while others are

struggling to survive.

In Kinshasa, the roads are unpaved and difficult to navigate.

Amid this chaos, a young woman named Moukembi is trying to build

a future.

Tell me what to do! The officers are supposed to direct traffic but

one of them says go to the left; the other one says go to the right.

What am I supposed to do?

Moukembi is in the middle of a test. In the back seat, Arnaud is

evaluating how well she navigates the traffic.

Sheís clearly feeling the pressure.

Youíll have to turn soon. You can tell you donít know your way

around here. Follow this car.

Moukembi has applied to be a driver at a taxi start-up. The

company was founded by a Congolese businesswoman who

wants to lift women out of poverty.

The pink cars are the serviceís trademark.

Previously, Moukembi worked as a nurse. If she passes the test, sheíll

triple her salary, earning around 250 euros per month.

I canít wait to start the job. Letís hope I pass the test.

Okay, back to the office.

Moukembi plays the part of a professional chauffeur until the

very end, but it will be a few days before

she finds out if sheís landed the job.

The cab companyís customers are middle and upper class.

To make the time spent in Kinshasaís traffic jams more

enjoyable, passengers are offered drinks, snacks, and even WiFi.

Weíre the first to offer this.

Patricia Nzolantima wants to give women better employment

opportunities. After completing her studies, she returned to Congo and

started this cab service with the help of investors. Today, she pays it

forward and supports other female entrepreneurs.

We want to have more millionaires. Congo has more than

80 million residents, and weíre rich in natural resources. Itís time

for Congolese women to get a piece of that wealth.

Despite the instability in the country?

Give me two of those.

?Patricia believes the economy will take off.

You canít reduce Congo to rape and wars. There are young people,

especially young women, who are trying to make real change. So itís

wrong to reduce the country to just the things that donít work.

This new generation will move the country forward.

Like Patricia and her friends, more and more Congolese people are

returning from abroad to work and invest in their homeland. These so-

called ìrepatsî live in secure areas

that offer a Western standard of living.

Back at La CitÈ du Fleuve, the high-end residential complex sitting

on a couple hundred hectares, two new residents are moving in.

Olivier and Naomie have just relocated from Johannesburg,

South Africa.

Most important for us was the washing machine. And the bed.

The couple works in finance. New job prospects convinced them to

return to their home country.

This will be the living room. The carpet can go here. There ? the

table, the TV.

This will be the bedroom.

The apartment also offers a great view of the Congo River. Olivier and

Naomie are newlyweds and want to start a family here.

The couple earns about 3,500 euros per month. Thatís more than 100

times the average salary. A third of it will go toward rent ? the steep

price of security.

You know, I want a place where my kids can play in the street and

they donít have to worry about 100 other people on the street,

and they donít have to worry about air pollution, noise pollution.

They can do their homework in peace. Itís also very much about

the environment, but also yes, it is a whole lot safer than the inner city.

A brand-new apartment, brand new furnishings. The next thing we

need is a brand-new baby!

The couple has found their safe haven.

Beginning of a new life for us. -Yes.

Thereís growing demand to live in this new residential complex.

Eventually, la CitÈ du Fleuve will have more than two thousand

homes? including singer Fally Ipupaís.

We meet him at an estate he rented to film his new music video.

The dancers are dressed as Congolese warriors.

The shoot is going well, until suddenly the music stops. Thereís

been a power outage in the area.

Thereís no electricity. Weíre trying to work it out.

Fally and his team are stuck.

Finally, a technician tracks down an emergency generator?

?but that quickly breaks too.

Fally is frustrated, even though heís used to these sorts of challenges.

You see this tattoo? It means Iím Congolese. Iím not going to leave

my country just because of a few power outages.

Eventually, Fally Ipupaís assistant Manon

tries using the carís sound system.

We make do with what we have. Iíll connect my phone to the car for now.

It works, and the video shoot can continue.

In his twenty-year music career thus far, Fally has joined the club of

multi-millionaires. And the number of members is increasing.

The country is rich in minerals, including coltan, from which

tantalum is extracted. The metal is used

in the manufacture of mobile phones.

The mines are in the Great Lakes region, in the eastern part of the

country, near the Rwandan border.

Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, has been shaken by

bloody conflicts for more than two decades. Armed groups fight each

other for control of the mineral resources.

The UN has stationed 16,000 peacekeepers here, to shore up a

fragile peace.

The residents in this region are poor and traumatized by violence.

Those who have made their fortune live along the shore of Lake

Kivu. Including one of the regionís most influential businessmen.

His villa is guarded around the clock by police. Itís like a fortress.

Robert Seninga is a multi-millionaire.

Hi, how are you?

His wealth comes from coltan mining. He was once a rebel leader.

In 2006, he was elected to parliament in the Masisi district.

Even when youíre a politician, you can still do business.

Robert Seninga freely admits that political clout has helped him. He

runs the mining cooperative Cooperamma, which extracts

coltan. His bodyguards never leave his side.

I ask him where we are.

This is Cooperammaís headquarters. The heart of the mineral trade.

The simple building belies the millions that Cooperamma turns

over each year.

Robert Seninga looks at the production figures of the last few days.

On the 6th, it was four tons and 668 kilos.

The numbers are looking pretty good.

Itís 40 tons in total.

I ask how much thatís worth.

A kilo is about 42 to 45 dollars. You can do the math.

In the last few days, the mines have brought in close to two million

euros. With three thousand mine workers, Cooperamma is the

regionís biggest employer.

I ask if any children work in his mines.

No, thatís illegal. There are officers who make sure they donít.

Children should be in school, not the mines.

Helmets, boots and masks are mandatory in the mines to ensure

the workersí safety. According to Seninga, the mines are seen as a

model for the region.

Theyíre situated about 60 kilometers from Goma, in one of

the most beautiful landscapes in Africa.

But itís also among the most dangerous regions. Conflict has

raged on here for more than 20 years.

In 1994, one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century took place in

neighboring Rwanda: a genocide that killed almost one million

people. Hundreds of thousands of people fled to the Democratic

Republic of Congo, including many of the perpetrators.

Since then, survivors and perpetrators have lived side by side

in this volatile region. Meanwhile, armed rebel groups clash over

Congoís valuable resources.

We head to the mines with Landry, Robert Seningaís chief engineer.

Seninga has saved the Masisi community. Thanks to him, life can

go on as normal.

But little seems to have changed in the region in recent years. The

roads are disastrous. Each day, people risk their lives getting to work.

Several times on our journey, our vehicle

nearly veers off the road into the ravine.

That was close. A bit further and weíd have ended up in the river.

Nearly there.

After five hours on the road, we reach Rubaya, home to the biggest

coltan mine in the country. About 100,000 people live here.

Among them are Gilles, his wife and their three children.

The family lives in this 15 square-meter home. Everything has its

designated spot.

The house is very small. We hang the shoes on the wall. The

childrenís things are here.

The adjacent room has the kitchen and the familyís bed.

The bed is very narrow. We sleep there and my wife cooks here.

The couple moved here 5 years ago, hoping to get wealthy from the mines.

I hope God will help me, so one day I can buy a car like this one.

For now, Gilles earns the equivalent of 5 euros per day.

His work is many kilometers away from the center of Rubaya. It takes

him an hour and a half to get there.

There are hundreds of coltan mines in the area. The one Gilles works in

is called Bamfou.

The ore is extracted from the sludge by hand.

Itís easier by hand. That way we can separate the coltan from the sand.

Once processed, itís an important part of manufacturing micro-

electronic components.

This is coltan. Itís mainly used for mobile phones.

Gilles has to climb into the mine to dig. The way down is slippery.

Wait. Stop? If you know how to do it, itís pretty easy.

Thereís nothing to hold onto for the 15-meter descent.