“Laws of the Jungle,” episode 2: Kinshasa moves to the rhythm of charcoal

Before dawn, traffic is already jammed on the narrow road into Kinshasa. Among the vehicles inching toward the capital is a battered van carrying about 100 sacks of charcoal, packed inside the cabin and across the roof.

At the wheel is Célestin Bonzele, a man in his thirties. The van is worn, rusted, patched and full of holes, but Bonzele waits patiently as the convoy crawls toward the sprawling city on the Congo River.

The charcoal trade begins far from the capital. Bonzele says he bought the sacks for 30,000 francs in Mbuba, 100 kilometers along the road to Matadi. He hopes to resell each for more than 40,000 francs, although the supplied excerpt ends before he explains whether the trade will be profitable.

The fuel is used by Kinshasa residents for cooking and has become one of the main causes of deforestation in the Congo. Between 50,000 and 100,000 hectares of forest burn each year within a 500-kilometer radius of the capital.

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I bought them for 30,000 francs in Mbuba, 100 kilometers along the road to Matadi. I hope to resell them for more than 40,000 francs each.