Sousa Jamba in Brussels says the Pope justifiably condemned the looting of the DRC this week, but the Congolese are still drawn to their former colonial power
Speaking in Kinshasa this week, Pope Francis asked the world to stop plundering the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Kingdom of Belgium has a lot to answer for in the exploitation of the largest country in Africa.
Yet most Congolese are fascinated by Belgium; one of the most profitable routes for Brussels Air is the daily Brussels-Kinshasa flight.
For some Congolese, Brussels is like Mecca; for them several trips to it in their lifetime are obligatory.
Curiously, these Congolese rush to Matonge, an area of the Belgian capital named after the largest ghetto of Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC. They go to restaurants serving goat meat, foufou, etc.
Some Congolese have decided to make Belgium or Brussels their home. Brussels must have some of the most educated Uber drivers in the world.
I have often taken rides with Congolese drivers who, after the preliminary greetings, feel compelled to inform me of their educational qualifications; this is usually followed by mini lectures during which they go on about their vision for the DRC.
Sometimes I suspect that the drivers take a longer route so they can have more time to tell me of their views - and get paid for it!
Once I got into a taxi in which the Congolese driver told me that he had passed a special examination for taxi drivers which was as difficult as the Chinese Civil Service exam.
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Some Congolese men like to dress up in the latest outfits (the colour of the shoe - say yellow - has to match that of the belt).
In supermarkets and other public places it is not unusual to hear loud conversations in Lingala, the main lingua franca of the DRC.
The Congolese have brought their entrepreneurial flair to the Belgian capital; this often annoys the authorities, but usually there is little they can do about it.
At the main train station, I have been approached by Congolese gentlemen offering to drive me to Paris at a cost much lower than the standard fare.
Wandering through the shopping malls of Brussels I have often been approached by Congolese men telling me they have cheaper versions of what was on show. These are men and women who are very capable of identifying market gaps. Others have set up successful businesses - including in areas such as real estate.
Sometimes in Brussels I see groups of school children marching in single lines accompanied by their teachers; among them I notice that a good number of black children were born in Belgium.
Some of these come from Congolese families. I recently attended an art exhibition by Nicolas Nkanda and had conversations with a number of young Belgians of Congolese origin - most spoke Lingala and French, and in some cases Dutch. They considered themselves to be both Belgian and Congolese and saw no contradiction.
