Mbuji-Mayi (formerly known as Bakwanga) is a sprawling city in Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Mbuji-Mayi might be the second-largest city in the DRC, but nobody really knows for sure. It is considered a particularly chaotic and lawless city even amongst the Congolese.

Understand

The area around Mbuji-Mayi is one of the richest sources of mineral wealth in the world. In the 1950s, it was estimated that the Mbuji-Mayi area had the world's most important industrial diamond deposits, containing at least 300 million karats of diamonds. The city was literally constructed on top of the diamond deposits, and while the city's reputation as a company town under tight control of Belgian economic interests meant it was neat and orderly, it also meant that the city's buildings and homes, including those of top MIBA executives, were sometimes demolished to access the diamonds.

The city lacks much of the organization and classic European architecture that other major cities in the DRC inherited from the Belgian colonists. Journalist Michela Wrong described Mbuji-Mayi as "a curiously soulless settlement, with no tangible centre ... It is purely functional conurbation, dedicated to making money, with little left over for less focused activities." Even today, much of the city revolves around the Avenue Inga, where diamond and mineral buyers have set up shop and the city's main business remains the diamond trade. Estimates of the city's population range from a 2010 CIA World Factbook estimate of 1,480,000, to as many as 3,500,000 estimated by the United Nations in 2008.

Get in

Mbuji-Mayi airport

Given the state of roads and the rail system in the DRC, the only practical way to access the city is via air. Air Kasaï and Congo Airways fly to Kinshasa, while Air Kasaï also flies to Kananga and Congo Airways to Lubumbashi. Ethiopian Airlines flies the airport's only international route to Addis Ababa.

There is a decent road from Mwene-Ditu, since that is the location of the nearest train station.

Sleep

• Hôtel Equinoxe (Avenue du Marché, located across from the Mbuji-Mayi Town Hall), ☏ +243 99 731 2261. 32 rooms (updated Nov 2023)