In the early 2010s, Godelive Ngalula, a trader from Kikwit, the main town of Kwilu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, spent a week to travel the 350 kilometres (km) to Tshikapa in Kasaï Province and 50,000 Congolese francs (about $24.5) on food. A decade later, the situation has changed. “The trip takes only about a day thanks to the better road. Travel costs have dropped from $80 to $20 and I spend only 2,000 Congolese francs, or $1, on food,” she says happily.