In downtown Kinshasa, where the authorities are hoping to give the area a facelift, luxury building projects are flourishing with at least 20 high-rise buildings under construction.
Most of them are run by Indian or Lebanese businessmen who employ Congolese builders.
They rush towards construction sites at dawn and queue for work. At the new Congo Trade Centre site, Indian staff give the workers instructions in the local Lingala language.
The lack of regulations in the country means that labour is cheap and working conditions are basic.
Carrying piles of bricks on his head, a Congolese worker points at his feet. He is wearing flip-flops and a band-aid on his right ankle.
"It is a big problem because there are nails everywhere," he says.
None of the builders are wearing safety gear and some even work barefoot.
Pay is handed over to each worker at the end of the day while another team prepares for the night shift.
"I earned $4.50 for 12 hours of work," another Congolese man says.
"But I have to spend $1 in transport and another one for food."
I bet I can find a picture of slave labour from the US and colonial Africa that looks the same way. 500 years and we STILL haven't learned?