University of Kinshasa

Campus

The university is located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of central Kinshasa, in the suburb of Lemba.

Many of the campus facilities have deteriorated and are in poor condition, or lack proper instructional tools - in 2003, the science library had as few as 300 titles in its collection. Since 2001, the university has hosted Cisco Academy, a joint project sponsored by the American software company Cisco and the United Nations Development Programme. The academy focuses on providing recent technology, training students to install and operate computer networks and all coursework is online.

History

1924–1959: Origins and Lovanium University

The origins of the University of Kinshasa traced back to 1924 when the Catholic University of Louvain established a medical association to address health and education in the Belgian Congo. At that time, the colony grappled with a critical shortage of medical professionals. The proposal gained traction, particularly through the advocacy of physiologist Fernand Malengreau and histologist Jules Havet, each of whom contributed distinctively to its realization. Malengreau championed the establishment of an independent association, while Havet recommended the formation of a university foundation for the overseas initiative. Malengreau contended that combating the pervasive epidemic of sleeping sickness required an extensive and well-structured healthcare network across the Belgian Congo, with the critical solution being the training of a significant cohort of skilled Congolese personnel. This vision could not be entrusted solely to public authorities, who had previously established six underperforming nursing schools due to the reluctance of Catholic missions to collaborate with state-run institutions. This initiative culminated in the establishment of the Fondation Médicale de l'Université de Louvain au Congo (FOMULAC) on 15 January 1926 in Kisantu, Bas-Congo (now Kongo Central), through the collective efforts of a group of French-speaking professors, inspired by the suggestion of rector Paulin Ladeuze. The association's statutes were officially published in the Moniteur belge on 13 February of that year. While Léon Dupriez, a law professor and vice-president of the Colonial Council, was appointed president for reasons of prestige, Malengreau became the intellectual architect of the foundation, remaining actively involved for three decades, even after his emeritus status. As secretary-general, he facilitated communication among the university, missionary authorities, and colonial administration. The medical infrastructure construction began in April 1926. Spanning a 10-hectare site, the facility consisted of ten pavilions, with separate sections for black African and white patients, a dispensary, and specialized departments for surgery, obstetrics, internal medicine, and general health. The complex also included a medical staff training school, research laboratories, a chapel, and residential accommodations for the Sisters of Charity of Namur, who assisted in the hospital's operations. A 'maternity village' was gradually constructed and it surrounded the medical complex with traditional dwellings.

In 1932, the Catholic University of Louvain established an agronomy section at Kisantu. Sections in administrative and commercial sciences and medical assistance followed in 1936 and 1937, respectively. In 1947, these sections were consolidated into the Congolese University Center of Lovanium. The center subsequently moved from Kisantu to Kimwenza and became Lovanium University in 1952. In 1954, the university began operating at its 400-hectare Mount Amba campus. Congolese demographer Bernard Mumpasi Lututala noted that Lovanium preceded the establishment of the University of Dakar by two years, describing it as a "pioneer of Francophone higher education in Africa". Lovanium offers programs in natural sciences, social and administrative sciences, pedagogical sciences, and agricultural sciences. It received funding from the colonial government, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the United States Agency for International Development.

1960–1981: Student activism, National University of Zaire and 1981 reform

During the first five years of independence, student activism focused on the political turmoil of the First Republic, particularly the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in 1961, as well as issues of university governance. Following Lumumba's assassination, Congolese students established the General Union of Congolese Students (Union générale des étudiants du Congo; UGEC) to promote national consciousness and civic responsibility. At Lovanium, students were represented by the General Association of Lovanium Students (Association générale des étudiants de Lovanium; AGEL). In 1964, students demonstrated for the decolonization of the university, the Africanization of its leadership and staff, curriculum reform, and student representation in university governance. They argued that the university should train professionals and leaders capable of addressing Congolese and African challenges, and objected to its entirely Belgian Board of Directors and the location of its headquarters in Leuven.

Student opposition to Mobutu Sese Seko's regime emerged soon after he came to power, with one of the most significant demonstrations occurring on 4 June 1969. Students protested poor living conditions, the increasingly authoritarian direction of Mobutu's government, and what they viewed as its subordination to foreign economic and financial interests. A peaceful march proceeded from several gathering points. The army suppressed the demonstration by opening fire on protesters, killing dozens of students. In the following days, authorities carried out mass arrests, closed several higher education institutions, and banned student associations. On 4 June 1971, students demonstrated to commemorate the 1969 protests, symbolically burying a coffin in front of the university's administrative building. Accounts differ over its meaning, with some associated the coffin with students killed in 1969, while others claimed it represented the remains of Mobutu's late mother. The demonstration was followed by another government crackdown.

On 20 July 1971, Lovanium University was renamed the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN). On 6 August 1971, Mobutu's government merged UNIKIN, the Protestant University in the Congo, and the University of Lubumbashi into the National University of Zaire (Université Nationale du Zaïre; UNAZA) as part of a broader reorganization of higher education. The government presented the reform as a means of addressing administrative inefficiencies and aligning academic programs with national development goals, while the centralized system increased state control over universities and reduced their institutional autonomy. Academic programs were reorganized into a three-tier structure consisting of a three-year undergraduate cycle, a two-year second cycle, and doctoral studies. Lovanium's ties with the Catholic University of Leuven were also severed, while funding declined. Initially designed to accommodate about 5,000 students, the campus became increasingly overcrowded as enrollment grew.

1981–present: Decline in funding, unrest, and rehabilitation

Following its re-establishment as a separate institution in 1981, UNIKIN continued to face financial difficulties throughout the decade. By 1985, the campus suffered from poor maintenance, including accumulated waste and deteriorating dormitories. The university cafeteria stopped serving meals, while professors' salaries fell to as little as $15 per month. As government funding declined, tuition was increased by 500 percent in 1985. On 22 September 1986, the government enacted Framework Law No. 86-005, which defined the structure and objectives of the national education system and the responsibilities of the state, educators, and private institutions. According to Nyembo, however, the law did little to address the structural problems affecting higher education.

In 1989, further budget cuts led UNIKIN to suspend nearly all scholarships and financial aid and introduce new student fees. During the 1980s, the government had provided up to 90 percent of the university's budget, with tuition accounting for only a small share of revenue. State support subsequently declined sharply; by 2002, the government contributed only $8,000 toward UNIKIN's estimated $4.3 million annual budget, although it separately covered some personnel costs. By the 2004–2005 academic year, enrollment stood at 23,250 students across ten faculties. The university had 508 academic and scientific staff and approximately 2,800 technical and administrative personnel.

During protests in 2004 and 2011 over campus conditions, including electricity outages, students set fire to the rector's residence while occupants were inside; neighbors intervened to help them escape. In 2008, a faculty dean received verbal and written death threats from students who had failed to meet the requirements for advancement to the next academic year. In June 2011, students also set fire to the rector's personal vehicle during a demonstration. On 9 December 2015, students called for the renovation of several deteriorating residence halls, including X, XX, XXX, 80, 150, and Vatican. Erosion also threatened some of the residences. With government funding, the Office of Roads and Drainage (OVD) carried out erosion-control work in the Trafic area of UNIKIN, including earth backfilling and the construction of drainage channels. Heavy rainfall had also damaged access roads, particularly around the Plateau des résidences des enseignants. In January 2020, student protests over increased academic fees led to clashes with police and the suspension of academic activities, after which 6,412 students were required to leave university residences.

Administration and academics

The University of Kinshasa is administered by a Management Committee (Comité de gestion) headed by the rector. The rector chairs the Management Committee and the University Council and oversees the implementation of their decisions. The rector is appointed by the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the recommendation of the minister responsible for higher education.

List of rectors:

The Management Committee, appointed by the Minister of Higher and University Education (Ministre de l'Enseignement Supérieur et Universitaire; MESU), oversees the university's daily administration and consists of the rector, secretary-general for academic affairs, secretary-general for research, secretary-general for administration, and budget administrator. The secretary-general for academic affairs assists the Management Committee in coordinating and supervising academic and scientific services, including para-academic services, libraries, teaching units and collections, academic and scientific staff, student admissions and registration, course programs and schedules, teaching, examinations, academic degrees, and academic departments. If the rector is absent or unable to perform his duties, the secretary-general for academic affairs acts as the rector's representative. The secretary-general for research oversees research activities, doctoral supervision, scientific publications and missions, and scientific events and exchanges. The position is appointed by MESU from among academic staff holding at least the rank of professor. The secretary-general for administration assists the rector in coordinating and supervising the university's administrative services, including administrative and technical staff, social services for employees, student accommodation, and campus life. Six directorates report to the secretary-general for administration: Human Resources, Student Affairs, Cultural Affairs, Technical Services and Maintenance, Training, and Social Affairs. The budget administrator oversees the university's budgetary and financial matters and is appointed by MESU from among management-level administrative staff with at least a bachelor's degree and three years of experience in public finance or higher education administration.

The University Council implements the university's academic and scientific policies, including academic planning and staff matters. It proposes to the board of directors the number of teaching hours for each subject and the distribution of subjects across years of study, in consultation with the relevant faculties, departments, schools, institutes, and research centers. It also considers honorary degrees, proposes developments in academic activities, gives its opinion on the Management Committee's budget estimates, appoints and dismisses non-permanent academic staff, and proposes the appointment and promotion of academic staff, chefs de travaux, and management-level administrative staff.

Faculties

Faculty of Law

Faculty of Economics and Management

Faculty of Letters and Humanities

Faculty of Medicine

Faculty of Dentistry

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Faculty of Dental Medicine

Faculty of Petroleum, Gas and New Energies

Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Polytechnic

Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences

Faculty of Science and Technology

Faculty of Agricultural Sciences

Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Faculty of Social, Administrative and Political Sciences

Medical schools

Kinshasa School of Public Health

Kinshasa University Clinics (Cliniques Universitaires de Kinshasa; CUK)

Neuropsychopathology Center (Centre Neuro-psychopathologique; CNPP)

Mount Amba Hospital Center (Centre Hospitalier du Mont-Amba; CHMA)

Institutes and research centers

Cardiology Center

Interdisciplinary Center for Political Studies and Documentation (Centre Interdisciplinaire d'Etudes et de Documentation Politiques; CIEDOP)

Institute for Studies and Historical Research on the Present Time (Institut d'Etudes et de Recherche Historique du Temps Présent)

Institute for Economic and Social Research (Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales; IRES)

Research Center for Development (Centre de Recherche pour le Développement)

Research Center for the Exploitation of Renewable Energy (Centre de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de l'Energie Renouvelable)

Laboratory for the Analysis of Medicines and Food (Laboratoire d’Analyses des Médicaments et des Aliments)

Center for Parapsychological Studies and Research (Centre d'Etudes et des Recherches Parapsychologiques; CERP)

Regional Postgraduate Schools

Regional Postgraduate School of Integrated Planning and Management of Tropical Forests and Territories (Ecole Régionale Postuniversitaire d'Aménagement et de Gestion Intégrés des Forêts et Territoire Tropicaux; ERAIFT)

Economic Policy Management Program (Programme de Gestion de la Politique Economique; GPE)

New Inter-University Third-Cycle Program in Economics (Nouveau Programme de Troisième Cycle Interuniversitaire en Economie; NPTCI)

Application Schools

Mount Amba Medical Technical Institute (Institut Technique Médical du Mont-Amba; ITM-MA)

Mount Amba School Group (Groupe Scolaire du Mont-Amba; GSMA)

Nuclear reactor

The first nuclear reactor in Africa was built at the University of Kinshasa in 1958. The reactor, known as TRICO I, is a TRIGA reactor built by General Atomics. TRICO stands for a combination of TRIGA or "Training Isotopes General Atomic" and Congo. The reactor was built while the country was still under Belgian control, and with the assistance of the United States government, under the Atoms For Peace program. TRIGA I was estimated to have a 50-kilowatt capacity and was shut down in 1970. In 1967, the African Union established a nuclear research center, the Regional Center for Nuclear Studies and the United States agreed to provide another TRIGA reactor. The second reactor, TRICO II, is believed to have a one-megawatt capacity and was brought online in 1972.

In 2001, the TRICO II reactor was reported to be operational, but was apparently put on standby in 1998. The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo stopped funding the program in the late 1980s, and the United States has since refused to ship replacement parts.

International observers have long been concerned about the safety and security of the two nuclear reactors and the enriched uranium they contain.

Rankings

In the 2022 Eduranking, the university achieved a ranking of 62 out of 1,104 African universities. According to this ranking, UNIKIN holds the top position among the six higher education and university institutions in Kinshasa. Nationally, it leads the selection of 25 universities, and globally, it holds the 3063rd position out of 14,131 evaluated establishments.

Public figures

Former teachers

Marcel Lihau, lawyer

Mabi Mulumba, Congolese politician

Notable alumni

Kudianga Bayokisa, Congolese lawyer and politician, Minister of Trade

Didier Etumba, Congolese military officer

Sylvestre Ilunga, Congolese politician

Webe Kadima, Congolese academic

Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, Congolese politician

Alain Daniel Shekomba, Congolese businessman, politician and physicist

Jacqueline Penge Sanganyoi, Congolese politician

Steve Wembi, Congolese criminologist and investigative journalist