The rest are derived from a surveyed price or estimated with a written basis, readable line by line on the prices page. A new market has few: it is the surveying that takes time, not the arithmetic.
- What does a 120 m² house cost in Kolwezi?
- Roughly $71,000 to $130,000 at a standard finish with a contractor, and $32,000 to $71,000 self-building. Kinshasa runs about 7% cheaper: Kolwezi suffers a chronic cement shortage and sustained mining demand.
- What does a plot cost in the DRC?
- It depends entirely on the district, and no published land survey exists for Kolwezi. In Kinshasa, where the figures do exist, a plot runs from $17/m² in Mont-Ngafula to over $1,000/m² in Gombe. Have the title checked before committing to anything: that is the real risk, well ahead of the price.
- Where do these prices come from?
- From published sources (weekly cement surveys, cost-per-m² studies, the DRC housing profile), supplemented by market estimates. Every line is badged “sourced” or “estimated”, and the Prices page cites the references.
- Why do prices vary so much between cities?
- Cement. In Kolwezi, this tool’s reference city, a 50 kg bag traded between 40,000 and 45,000 CDF in October 2025, during the shortage caused by power cuts at the Carrilu works. For comparison: 24,000–26,000 CDF in Kinshasa, 20,000 in Matadi next to the Lukala plant, and over 100,000 in Kananga during a stock-out. Matadi is the cheapest point in the country, Kananga and Mbuji-Mayi the dearest.