Congo Inc.: Bismarck's Testament
Award-winning author In Koli Jean Bofane delivers a searing satirical novel that confronts the brutal legacy of colonialism and corporate exploitation in Africa. Congo Inc.: Bismarck's Testament follows Isookanga, a Congolese Pygmy who leaves his village with dreams of wealth, only to navigate the chaotic reality of Kinshasa amid civil conflict and political instability.
The narrative interweaves Isookanga's experiences with Raging Trade, an online game where he masters resource extraction through weaponry, slavery, and genocide—a dark mirror of the multinational corporate activity that has shaped his homeland for generations. His journey brings him into contact with street children, warlords, and a Chinese victim of globalization, creating a kaleidoscopic view of modern Congo.
Bofane crafts a world haunted by the ghosts of Bismarck and Leopold II, where the sound of machine gun fire and burning flesh punctuate a story about ecological, political, and economic failure. The novel examines how rapacious corporate activity, corrupt governance, human rights abuses, and environmental degradation have created the logical outcome of civil conflict that continues to plague the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Told with levity that makes the heartbreak cut deeper, this blistering examination of capitalism and colonialism has earned Bofane numerous accolades, including the Grand Prix littéraire de l'Afrique noire, the Grand Prix du Roman Métis, and the Prix des Cinq continents de la Francophonie.
This paperback edition is part of the Global African Voices series from Indiana University Press, translated by award-winning trilingual translator Marjolijn de Jager, who brings her expertise in French, Dutch, and English to preserve the novel's satirical edge and emotional depth.
