Travel Guide MbÉ

Mbé, once the capital of a 90,000 km² kingdom on either side of the Congo River, is now no more than a market town in the Plateaux region. The Batéké monopolized trade in the region, acting as intermediaries between the northern and southern populations. The Makoko royal residence and a stele commemorating the 1880 treaty in which the king surrendered "his hereditary rights of supremacy" to France can still be seen. The Batéké have long since lost the monopoly that made them so prosperous, but they retain a discreet pride that manifests itself in their fabrics, ceramics and basketry, as well as in their tales and rituals.