French teacher Rouco, 30 years old, with his son in his small house in a suburb of Maputo that he had built on land his parents lived on before. He holds a bow and arrow which he plans to use if crimi...

Children play in a shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon.

An apartment building in downtown Maputo.

A residential building in downtown Maputo. Many of the middle classes are leaving these cramped and expensive apartments to move into the residential city of Matola, where they can have a house with a...

The bride and groom have the first dance at their wedding in downtown Maputo. At the event about 300 people were catered for in a marquee set up in a park. After the wedding and feast, which carried o...

Sergio, the campus IT Manager, photographs a member of staff. At the University of Maputo, all employees and teachers are photographed in order to make new identity badges. That day, more than 250 peo...

Albert Ledoux hosts a radio show devoted to the World Cup and the chances of the Indomitable Lions.

Girls studying in class at a private school on the outskirts of Maputo. Since the end of the civil war the number of private schools and universities have grown.

A butcher and her employee at the time of closing. In small towns, businesses are still often held by Indian or mestizos.

A man runs past a graffiti that reads 'welcome to Carrefour, Barack Obama'. The area is near the stadium and land prices there are increasing as it has become popular with the middle classes seeking t...

Maryline, 30, (left) leads a workshop for executives while at participant prepares a speech. She was able to study thanks to the financial sacrifices of his father who has allowed his three daughters...

A man stands beside his car on a Saturday night on the road that borders the waterfront. From nightfall cars, customised and tuned-up, are parked with their boots open, for the music that is blown fro...

Donald in the courtyard of his family home. He is a caterer and works a lot at functions and weddings. Donald is bisexual. His family no nothing of this but are suspicious because his wife sees many m...

A member of staff watches over the child of an expat at the Douala tennis club while club members socialise between activities.

The bride and groom have the first dance at their wedding in downtown Maputo. At the event about 300 people were catered for in a marquee set up in a park. After the wedding and feast, which carried o...

A model is prepared for the catwalk behind the scenes of a fashion show in the chic Bonapriso Hotel.

Participants applaud at the end of a role play during a training session for 'people's potential', particularly regarding women's opportunities and barriers that prevent their progress.

In Eric Sunjio's pharmacy, largest in the capital which Eric took over from a French chemist, a new display stand is revealed.

Alice Nkom in her office in Douala. A lawyer, who for ten years has been dedicated exclusively to the defense of homosexuals. Homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon and can be punished with five years i...

Charles Ateba Eyene, a young politician and a known critic of the government reads a newspaper in the lounge of his home with his wife and som.

A young couple out exercising on a Sunday morning.

A billboard advertisement for Amstel beer depicting an asperational middle class lifestyle.

An apartment building seen through the window of a taxi.

Patrick Eshon tries to console his daughter. She collapsed in tears after after he told her a story about how he and his friends survived by eating cats when he was a student at university.

A small office where 17 people are supposed to work each day at the Ministry of Advancement of Women and the Family.

Albert Ledoux, editor in chief of radio and television station Equinox, has makeup applied before he presents the politics show 'The great debate' .

Albert Ledoux in his office. At 34, he is editor in chief of radio and television station Equinox.

Joseph Pousseu in his department head office within the Ministry of Promotion of Women.

Televisions in the living room at Joseph Pousseu's home.

Students having an animated discussion about sexuality in a lecture hall at the University of Douala. Biology student Peggy (centre) is a lesbian but her friends do not know. She is in charge of Gende...

A little girl leaps inside a giant inflatable at an amusement park.

Adonis home even his suicide attempt. Very believer, he was repudiated by the evangelist church he attended as a friend was accused of homosexuality. He then tries to shock by cutting the wire of the...

A Mozambican couple shopping in a supermarket in South Africa, where goods are cheaper and more plentiful than in their in own country.

Construction site supervisor Frank, who recently resumed studies for an MBA, and his team at a hospital building site.

Lazaro Tembe lifts weights in a gym that he attends three times a week, from 6 to 7:30 am before he goes to work. After being a public servant for 15 years he set up a water supply company which, for...

A v illa for rent in a suburb of Douala.

The newly constructed home of Roques Natuzzi. She has two children and had previously lived with her husband on the same land in a traditional house made of wood and palm leaves.

At 4 o'clock in the morning Christine prays before the start of her day. She works as a social worker at the AIDS hospital in Yaounde. Her husband, a former banker, was laid off 10 years ago and since...

A marriage in downtown Maputo. The married couple pose for photographs with members of the family of the bride who originate in Swaziland and are dressed in the traditional dress of that country.

A couple getting food from a buffet at an evening event in a bar.

On the set of the programme 'Tonight or Never' journalists quiz a guest.

A boy plays with the family dog as they enjoy Sunday lunch on the beach near Maputo.

Michelle, exercising at a fitness club. After completing her studies in Europe she is now looking for work back in her homeland.

Luisa, a secretary at the German Cultural Centre. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall she sent seven years in East Germany and is still bilingual.

A family dinner at the home of Guy Desire Nouboussi in the small town of Buea. He is director in a small primary school and also, to supplement his income, a farmer and has just started to try a marke...

Sales manager Eugenio at home with his wife and three children.

A truck and trailor loaded with goods at the border with South Africa where goods are cheaper than Mozambique.

Belina a nurse in a public hospital treats a newly born baby. Her salary is quite low but the employment is stable in an area with few other opportunities.

Josiane rests at home. A month previously she broke her leg in a taxi motorbike accident. Fortunately, as a public servant, she continues to receive her salary.

Guy Desire in his garden watching his son try to capture a chicken which he must deliver to a client this morning before going to work as head teacher in primary school under his direction.

English language evening classes for adults at the British Council. Speaking English is a necessary skill to be recruited by foreign companies that pay much better than local ones.

Guy Desire stands in the doorway of a classroom at the primary school where he is the head teacher. It is a small school in a military camp for the children of soldiers.

Harvesting tomatoes in a field near Chokwe, a small agricultural town.

Dem Patrice (left) inspects the work at a site where he is responsible.

Lucas Marcamo in one of his fields with his tractor, he is the only one in the area to possess such a vehicle. Although misspelt, he has named it in honour of Barrack Obama.

A conference of the Drafting Team at STV, one of the private TV channels in Douala. The proliferation of private media and satellite channels facilitates the dissemination of information and notably a...

A boat in the shallows at low tide. In the background are newly built houses that are evidence of a real estate boom.

Passengers on a morning ferry from the commuter town of Matola to Maputo.

The three heads of the Kenyan NGO 'Reality Tested Youth programme' during a session on educating children in one of Nairobi's slums, Mathare. On the right, Calvin the founder, earns enough each month,...

A boy practices long jump from an arm chair in his aunt's middle class home while waiting to go to church.

Ousmane playing a round of golf at the Royal Nairobi Golf Club. The club is next to Kibera (the roofs are visible in the background) which is one of the largest slums in Africa. Ousmane grew up and st...

Billal, seated in his house in Kibera, waits for his wife to come home from the madrasa where she teaches. His wages from his job as a telecoms technician are low so he suppliments it by renting rooms...

A Rotary Club meeting in Nairobi. Young white collar workers and entrepreneurs meet each week with more experienced businessmen following a strict etiquette. These clubs are numerous in Nairobi. They...

A doctor checks a female patient's throat during a visit to a GP in the private Avenue Hospital. An appointment costs around 8.00 GBP, whereas state hospitals are free, but the middle classes come as...

The rug and fabric department of the 'Nakumat Lifestyle' supermarket, open 24hrs a day in the centre of Nairobi. The malls of the Nakumat group are gradually pushing out local shops and the small groc...

Billal, a phone company technician, mends a telephone pole on the edge of a highway.

A sign reads 'This is a corruption free zone' on the Nairobi University campus. The middle classes are very exposed to corruption in Africa as they are too poor to defend themselves, but rich enough t...

A meeting at the Jubilee Club in Kibera. The thirty or so members get together each week to chat, drink, chew khat and watch Premier League football matches from England. To join the club you have to...

Young girls at a private school in Nairobi are photographed at the top of the ICEA building, the highest in the city, during a school visit.

A night watchman stands guard in a gated community. Security companies are growing in number. He says he is underpaid and furthermore he isn't allowed to eat or read during the 12 hours he works from...

A security guard keeps watch while a family relax on the grass at the Ngong Race Course. Betting on horses is very popular and many Kenyans flock to the race course every weekend. There are two enclos...

Carrie, a ranger with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), out in the park checking that the animals are well and that any building work is going to plan (as seen here). She reckons she earns a good livi...

People walking along a street in Kibera, one of the biggest slums in Africa. The building at the top of the street is the headquarters of the Jubilee Club, a Gentleman's Club in the purest British tra...

Joy makes her pupils recite a poem out loud in French at the private high school where she teaches French. She used to live in the school she taught in, but was recently transferred and had to find a...

A man rests in a park in the centre of Nairobi. It is the showcase of the city, but also a place where homeless people spend the night, and can still be seen on the grass in the morning.

A nanny feeds a toddler in the kitchen of the property of a restaurateur. The owner bought her apartment a few years ago and it is part of a gated community, so she feels safe when she gets back late...

In the suburbs of Nairobi, nearly 45 minutes from the city centre, a large estate of new apartment buildings is nearly finished and the apartments are now for sale. Access to housing is one of the har...

In Nairobi's city centre, a high-school student performs dance moves in front of his friends during the shooting of an episode of television programme 'So you think you can dance!'. The series came fr...

A middle class family riding through dense traffic in the evening.

The playground of a private school in Kitui.

Mama Diana works in the fields with her grandson on her back. She is retired and widowed and lives in the small village of Kitui. She has two hectares of land and cattle as well as employing two farm...

Ericka has a coffee break in the foreign embassy where she works as a financial analyst.

In the car park of an upmarket bar, where a football match is being shown on television, an employee waits to accompany clients to the door beneath the shelter of an umbrella.

Ousmane (red shirt) who has taken a day off to go to the village where his uncle died a few days before. All the family have come for the funeral.

Sally is 30 and runs a Chinese restaurant in the city centre. She feels that her job is going nowhere. She has decided to go back to school and get a diploma that would allow her to work for an NGO. A...

Joy's family at her home. At the top left is her cleaning lady who works full time and helps out with shopping, cleaning, laundry etc.

Calvin sits in his bedroom checking his phone which keeps ringing as all his friends want to say good-bye to him because he is leaving for a six month stay in Canada the next day. He was a good studen...

A man and a donkey walking on the foundations of a highway in the east of the country near Kitui.

A traffic jam in the centre of Nairobi. The number of cars has risen sharply in the past 10 years, creating havoc this city made up of small streets. On rainy days it can take two hours to leave the c...

Oussmane carrying boxes as part of his job as a handy man for a foreign research institute. His wage provides him with a middle class salary but doesn't allow him any extras. After 25 years of working...