Protestant University in the Congo (french: Université protestante au Congo, or UPC), is a university in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, affiliated with the Protestant Church which is known in the country as the

Church of Christ in the Congo The Church of Christ in the Congo or CCC (in French, or ECC), is a union of 62 Protestant denominations, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is often simply referred to as the Protestant Chu ...

Location

The university's campus is located in the neighborhood called Lingwala, in the

Lukunga District Lukunga is an area of the capital city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, comprising seven of the city-province's twenty-four administrative divisions—the communes of Barumbu, Gombe, Kinshasa, Kintambo, Lingwala, Mont Ngafula and ...

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

, the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The campus is bounded to the west by ''Avenue Pierre Mulele'', immediately north of the ''Centenary Protestant Cathedral'' and adjacent to the ''National Museum of Congo'', which lies to the south and south-east of the campus. The geographical coordinates of UPC campus are 4°19'59.0"S, 15°17'52.0"E (Latitude:-4.333056; Longitude:15.297778).

Overview

The UPC traces its origins to the establishment of the Faculty of Protestant Theology of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (''Faculté de Théologie Protestante du Congo Belge et du Rwanda-Urundi'') in 1959. It became the Faculty of Protestant Theology in

Free University of the Congo The University of Kisangani (UNIKIS) is located in the city of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was founded in 1963 by Protestant missionaries as the Free University of the Congo (french: Université libre du Congo, ULC); it ...

in 1963 and was later folded into the

National University of Zaire The National University of Zaire (french: Université nationale du Zaïre, or UNAZA) was a federated university in Zaire (the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo). It was formed in August 1971 when the country's three existing universiti ...

(UNAZA) as part of the centralization of secondary education in the country in 1971. It was subsequently re-established an independent body in 1974 when UNAZA was securalised. As of 2015, it was the largest Protestant university in the world, with a student enrollment of approximately 8,000. At that time, 55 percent of the students were female and 45 percent were male.

Academics

As of September 2015, UPC had the following faculties as illustrated in the table below. The year each faculty was established is also shown.

Religious diversity

The table below illustrates the religious diversity among registered students in the university, as of September 2015.

Prominent alumni

* Ève Bazaiba, Democratic Republic of the Congolese lawyer, politician and human rights activist. Former Senator. Secretary General of the

Movement for the Liberation of the Congo The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (french: Mouvement de Libération du Congo, or MLC) is a political party in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Formerly a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo that fought the govern ...

(MLC). *

Acacia Bandubola Mbongo Acacia Bandubola Mbongo, (née Acacia Bandubola), is a Congolese businesswoman and politician, who served as the Minister of the National Economy in the Cabinet of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 26 August 2019, until March 2023. ...

, Congolese businesswoman and politician. Current Minister of the Economy in the Cabinet of the Democratic Republic the Congo, since August 2019. * Gael Bussa, Congolese lawyer, politician and human rights activist. He was elected National Deputy in the constituency of Budjala, in the province of South-Ubangi, in the

2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election General elections were held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 30 December 2018, to determine a successor to President Joseph Kabila, as well as for the 500 seats of the National Assembly and the 715 elected seats of the 26 provincial as ...

References

External links

Homepage of Protestant University of Congo
{{authority control Universities in Kinshasa Universities and colleges established in 1959 Education in Kinshasa Protestantism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1959 establishments in the Belgian Congo