Living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a French National: Settling In, School, Budget and Safety

Among the DRC’s strengths, language comes first: French is the official language, alongside four national languages (Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba and Swahili) according to France Diplomatie. The French embassy in Kinshasa, two consular agencies (Lubumbashi and Bukavu) and a network of French schools support the expatriate community. The National Agency for the Promotion of Investment (ANAPI) highlights a market of more than 100 million inhabitants and priority sectors such as agriculture, mining, energy, infrastructure, tourism and new technologies, which feeds a pool of jobs for qualified profiles.

The constraints lie elsewhere. France Diplomatie advises against tourist travel throughout the country (safety record). It also reports, in its alerts, recurrent epidemics, notably of Ebola and cholera, including in Kinshasa. Card payments are accepted only in large hotels in Kinshasa and in a few restaurants, cash machines are rare and tarmac roads cover only a small part of the network. Public hospitals are described as very run down: an expat health insurance policy with evacuation is part of the settling-in budget.

The capital, Kinshasa, is home to the embassy, the French lycée and most of the private healthcare offering. Lubumbashi, in the south-east, has a consular agency and a French school. France Diplomatie cites as main cities Lubumbashi, Mbuji-Mayi, Goma, Kananga, Kisangani and Bukavu.

The classification of zones follows the vigilance map. The red zones, formally advised against, include parts of North Kivu and South Kivu (including Goma and Bukavu), the Virunga, Kahuzi-Biega and Garamba national parks, Tanganyika province and several territories in the west (Kwilu, Kwango, Kwamouth). The rest of the country is classed as an orange zone, advised against except for compelling reasons; Kinshasa falls into this general category. A settling-in project is therefore built with the embassy, by choosing a residential district of the capital or of Lubumbashi, with private guarding, and by registering on the Ariane platform.

The national currency is the Congolese franc; the Central Bank of the Congo publishes an indicative rate every day. France Diplomatie specifies that the US dollar is commonly used for payments, the Congolese franc being used for small purchases, and that damaged or old dollar notes may be refused or discounted, in particular USD 100 notes.

No average monthly budget is put forward here: no official source read publishes rents or reference prices, and the gaps between districts are large. The items to plan for are secure housing, guarding, a driver, French school fees, health insurance with evacuation and tickets to France. To compare insurance, the guide to healthcare reimbursement in the DRC details who pays depending on status. On leaving the territory, international flights incur a Go Pass of USD 50 and a statistical boarding tax of USD 5 (USD 10 and USD 5 for domestic flights).

France Diplomatie recommends using a Congolese driver, letting nobody into the vehicle and using a private guarding service for the residence. Traffic is very heavy in Kinshasa; French and international driving licences are not valid, and a Congolese licence is obtained from CONADEP. There is no landline: four mobile operators (Airtel, Africell, Vodacom and Orange) cover 51% of the population, and 4G SIM cards are available in Kinshasa.

Direct flights link Paris to Kinshasa every week according to France Diplomatie; domestic flights are not recommended, as most operators are banned in the European Union. The river shuttle between Kinshasa and Brazzaville runs every day except Sunday. For a stay of more than six months, the embassy recommends registering on the register of French nationals living abroad.

French nationals are subject to a visa requirement: a tourist visa covers a stay of less than six months, to be requested online or from the DRC embassy in Paris, with a passport valid for at least six months from entry. Beyond six months, a residence permit is requested in the DRC from the General Directorate of Migration (DGM) or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To work, a work establishment visa is requested from the Ministry of Employment, Labour and Social Welfare, and the employer requests a systematic establishment visa from the DGM (see working in the DRC). The courtesy visa allows no professional activity.

A tax identification number (NIF) is requested online from the General Directorate of Taxes (e-NIF), and an employer registers its employees with the National Social Security Fund (CNSS). The precise conditions of a long-stay residence permit (documents, timescales, fees) could not be read on the DGM website, which was not responding: they should be confirmed with the DGM or the embassy. In the event of refusal of entry for lack of proper documents, the embassy cannot intervene.

The Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE) lists three schools in the DRC. In Kinshasa, the Lycée Français René-Descartes, a school under agreement located on avenue de la Gombe, takes 1,050 pupils across 15 accredited levels, from the first nursery class to the final year; the Les Oisillons school is a partner school. In Lubumbashi, the French school Blaise-Pascal is also a partner. Fees, enrolment calendars and available places should be requested directly from each school, well before the start of the school year.

For families, insurance must cover paediatrics, vaccinations and evacuation; the guide to expat family insurance helps to compare contracts.

French is the official language; Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba and Swahili have the status of national languages according to France Diplomatie. For a French national, the first settling-in is therefore done in French, but learning a few words of the language of your town makes daily life and neighbourly relations easier.

The country covers more than 2.3 million km² (2,345,409 km² according to France Diplomatie), and the climate varies greatly from one region to another: no figures on climate are put forward here, and records can be consulted with the national meteorological service. The health records mention a dry season to watch for meningitis (from November to June) and remind readers that dengue and chikungunya circulate, notably in Kongo Central and Kinshasa: the calendar of seasons matters when planning trips and vaccinations.

The general advice of the safety record is to limit travel, avoid walking alone and travelling at night, vary routes and times, keep doors locked and windows closed, not show signs of wealth, keep the originals of identity documents in a safe place and carry photocopies. Roadblocks are often illegal: caution is essential. In the event of an assault, it is advised not to resist and to report the incident to the embassy and the police.

On health, yellow fever is the mandatory vaccination; hepatitis A and B, typhoid fever, meningitis ACWY and rabies are recommended depending on the stay. Malaria is the leading cause of death from disease. The detail is in the guide to the healthcare system in the DRC. To prepare for the end of a career, see the page on retirement in the DRC.