Manono lies on the western bank of the Lukushi River, a tributary of the Luvua River.

The town is a river port, with barges bringing cargo from Lubumbashi. Manono is also connected to a disused railway line to Muyumba.

The town lies along National Road 33 (N33) and Regional Road 628 (R628).

Economic activity is centered on mining, with the surrounding area containing approximately 100 million tonnes of minerals, including spodumene (lithium), columbite, tin and tantalite.

Mining by Géomines began in 1915. The Manono-Kitolo mine was worked almost continuously until the late 1970s, first by Géomines and later by Congo-Etain and Zairetain.

Perhaps 180,000 tonnes of cassiterite ore were extracted in this period.

The collapse of the world tin price in the 1980s severely hit the town’s economy. However, since 2017 exploration has been underway for lithium minerals and tin at the historical tin mine in the Manono – Kitotolo region.

The town is served by Manono Airport.

Manono has a cathedral which was built by Belgian missionaries, and was severely damaged during the war.