The life of the super-rich in Central Africa | DW Documentary

Fally Ipupa is the DRCís biggest star,and heís known internationally. He is also a multi-millionaire. The DRC is the largest country inCentral Africa, about six times the size of Germany. Its history is one of conflict andexploitation. In 1965, Mobutu Sese Seko came topower. Nicknamed. the ìLeopard of Zaire, he was known as the ‘Leopard Of Zaire.’ Fally likes to relax away from thehustle and bustle of the. city center. I really like being. here, especiallyon Sundays. I can relax here. Iíve always liked coming to the riverwith my. family, so I decided to put down a few bricks. Those ìfew bricksî amount to. aCalifornian style villa, which stands out here in the D Congo, one of theworldís poorest countries. in terms of GDP per capita. With its abundance. of mineral resources, the D RC could be one ofthe richest countries in Africa. Mining is. the countryís mostimportant industry. Many of Fallyís neighbors have made a fortune sellingraw materials to a resource- hungry world. Fally gets one of his marinaworkers 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 theequivalent of about seven euros,. the amount theyídearn in a whole week. These people have differentproblems than we do. I often give thema little something, even if itís just so. they can take home a treat fortheir children, and Iím happy to do it. I’m one of about 600millionaires in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I never imagined Iíd have multiplecars. I just wanted to sing and make a name for. myself inKinshasa and in Africa, and that’s what I did. I love you man! I. love you too. I want to share my life with you, Fally I pupa, singer of the Congolese national band, the Congo River Band, and my friends and family. I am so happy to have you as my friend, my brother, my family, my colleagues, my friends, my fans, and all of my friends. You are all my family and I am very proud of you. I will always love you. You have made me a better man. I hope to see you in the future. I miss you all so much. I have always loved you, and always want to be with you.” Fally pups a photo of his new home in ìLa. CitÈ du Fleuve, a residential complex forCongoís new upper class. Uninvited guests aren’t. allowed in. The richlive there. They do business deals, we catch fish.. The residential complex is forcongoísnew upper class, including the country�ís millionaires. Itís home tonearly 100. million people. Many people take onmultiple. 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. Thereís money if you know where to find it. But large parts of. the populationlive below the poverty line. Albert is a fisherman. He earns lessthan one euro. seventy cents per day. He lives in a poorneighborhood just opposite from his rich people. Thatís ì la CitÉ du Fleuvre.î The rich live there. Thatís where the richlive.. Thatís La CitÅ du Fleuve.