University of Kivu

This study analyzes the structural economic causes of the exclusion of poor populations from the formal financial system in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and examines mechanisms that could promote financial inclusion and the resilience of the informal sector. Despite the importance of the informal sector in the Congolese economy, access to formal financial services for poor households and micro-entrepreneurs remains extremely limited, which increases their vulnerability to economic and institutional shocks. The study adopts a qualitative, historical, and institutional approach, based on an in-depth documentary analysis of official reports, public policy documents, and scholarly works. The analysis highlights that financial exclusion in the DRC has developed cumulatively, from the colonial period to postcolonial economic reforms, through a financial system primarily oriented towards the interests of concessionary companies, and later, urban elites. The gradual transformation of the central bank's mission, the succession of monetary, budgetary, and fiscal reforms, as well as the failure of the financial system in the 1990s, exacerbated the financial marginalization of the poor. The results show that hyperinflation, demonetization, dollarization of the economy, and the liquidation of financial institutions led to a massive loss of household savings and a lasting breakdown of confidence in the formal financial system. Faced with this persistent exclusion, populations have developed resilience mechanisms based on informal finance, particularly through community-based savings and credit schemes. However, these mechanisms remain insufficient to guarantee sustainable financial inclusion. The study concludes that financial inclusion in the DRC requires a structural overhaul of the financial system, integrating community dynamics, the informal sector, and financial innovations, within the framework of a coherent long-term economic development strategy

Abstract Background: Goma has been recognized as a key epicenter of Mpox transmission. Following World Health Organization guidance, frontline healthcare providers were prioritized for vaccination due to their elevated risk of exposure. Yet, in the Virunga health area, uptake remained low, with only 20% of frontline healthcare providers vaccinated in the first phase. This study aimed to identify determinants influencing Mpox vaccine acceptability among frontline healthcare providers. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted between May and September 2025 among 126 frontline healthcare providers at Virunga General Referral Hospital, Goma. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using STATA and SPSS. Logistic regression models were applied, with statistical significance set at p ≤ 0.05. Results: Overall vaccine acceptability was 25%. Significant predictors of vaccine uptake included male gender (OR = 3.07; p = 0.025), 6–10 years of professional experience (OR = 4.65; p = 0.015), confidence in vaccination (OR = 1.46; p = 0.038), absence of fear of adverse effects (OR = 6.10; p = 0.010), and managerial encouragement (OR = 12.56; p = 0.016). Access to official vaccine information also significantly improved acceptance (OR = 3.71; p = 0.016). Conclusions: Mpox vaccine acceptability among frontline healthcare providers in Goma remains low. Institutional support, confidence in vaccine safety, and targeted communication addressing misconceptions are key to improving uptake. Strategies should prioritize trust-building, managerial engagement, and evidence-based education.

Classical mechanisms of volcanic eruptions mostly involve pressure buildup and magma ascent towards the surface1. Such processes produce geophysical and geochemical signals that may be detected and interpreted as eruption precursors1–3. On 22 May 2021, Mount Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), an open-vent volcano with a persistent lava lake perched within its summit crater, shook up this interpretation by producing an approximately six-hour-long flank eruption without apparent precursors, followed—rather than preceded—by lateral magma motion into the crust. Here we show that this reversed sequence was most likely initiated by a rupture of the edifice, producing deadly lava flows and triggering a voluminous 25-km-long dyke intrusion. The dyke propagated southwards at very shallow depth (less than 500 m) underneath the cities of Goma (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Gisenyi (Rwanda), as well as Lake Kivu. This volcanic crisis raises new questions about the mechanisms controlling such eruptions and the possibility of facing substantially more hazardous events, such as effusions within densely urbanized areas, phreato-magmatism or a limnic eruption from the gas-rich Lake Kivu. It also more generally highlights the challenges faced with open-vent volcanoes for monitoring, early detection and risk management when a significant volume of magma is stored close to the surface.

Abstract Freshwater ecosystems provide many services such as moderation of the local microclimate and a source of water and food for riparian communities. It is also a preferred habitat for many organisms such as plankton, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish. However, these ecosystems are among the most affected by various anthropogenic threats that modify water quality and ecological processes, thus affecting biodiversity. The objective of this study was the spatio‐temporal characterization of physico‐chemical littoral water parameters and the assessment of anthropogenic disturbance on the littoral zone by a water quality index (WQI). Physico‐chemical water quality data including temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, TDS, turbidity, SiO2, PO43−, NO2−, and NH4+ were collected from January to December 2018. They were used to calculate the WQI to assess water quality according to aquatic life, using limits values of Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME), United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Australian and New Zeland Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC). PO43− is out of range in all the stations while NO2− and Turbidity are out of range in some of the anthropized stations according to ANZECC, CCME, and USEPA recommended values for aquatic life. The WQI values range from medium to good and the high WQI values obtained in the non‐anthropized stations that reflect the negative influence of human disturbance on water quality in the Lake littoral zone. The results suggest the need for an integrated lake watershed management system in order to maintain the ecological functions of the lake and support livelihoods from the lake.

We use variation in exposure to victimization of 1,537 households of eastern Congo for each year of 1990-2013 to examine the formation of preferences to participate in armed groups. In this context, most armed groups are Congolese militia, whose objective is fighting foreign armed groups. We find that foreign armed group attacks on household members are associated with a larger propensity that individuals join a Congolese militia in subsequent years. The results are consistent with the formation of preferences arising from parochial altruism towards the family to fight foreign perpetrators. Specifically, we find that the effect is driven by the most gruesome of those attacks, by those that take place at a young age, and persists for several years. Consistent with parochial altruism, we find that the effect is largest when the victim is a household member or the village chief, smaller when the victim is another household in the village, and insignificant if the victim is in a nearby village. To examine the external validity of our result, we analyze heterogeneous effects by weakness of the state. We find that the response is concentrated in village-year observations in which state forces are absent. Finally, we show that, to undo this effect, the yearly per capita income outside armed groups would have to permanently increase 18.2-fold. These results suggest that intrinsic preferences are important for armed group participation relative to economic incentives, and emphasize their interaction with state weakness.

Arbitrary modeling choices are inevitable in scientific studies. Yet, few empirical studies in conservation science report the effects these arbitrary choices have on estimated results. I explored the effects of subjective modeling choices in the context of counterfactual impact evaluations. Over 5000 candidate models based on reasonable changes in the choice of statistical matching algorithms (e.g., genetic and nearest distance mahalanobis matching), the parametrization of these algorithms (e.g., number of matches), and the inclusion of specific covariates (e.g., distance to nearest city, slope, or rainfall) were valid for studying the effect of Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of the Congo on changes in tree cover loss and carbon storage over time. I randomly picked 2000 of the 5000 candidate models to determine how much and which subjective modeling choices affected the results the most. All valid models indicated that tree cover loss decreased and carbon storage increased in Virunga National Park from 2000 to 2019. Nonetheless, the order of magnitude of the estimates varied by a factor of 3 (from -4.78 to -13.12 percentage points decrease in tree cover loss and from 20 to 46 t Ce/ha for carbon storage). My results highlight that modeling choices, notably the choice of the matching algorithm, can have significant effects on point estimates and suggest that more structured robustness checks are a key step toward more credible findings in conservation science.

Despite overwhelming burdens of disease, health care access in most developing countries is extremely low. As governments work toward achieving universal health coverage, evidence on appropriate interventions to expand access in rural populations is critical for informing policies. Using a combination of population and health system data, we evaluated the impact of two pilot fee exemption interventions in a rural area of Madagascar. We found that fewer than one-third of people in need of health care accessed treatment when point-of-service fees were in place. However, when fee exemptions were introduced for targeted medicines and services, the use of health care increased by 65percent for all patients, 52percent for children under age five, and over 25percent for maternity consultations. These effects were sustained at an average direct cost of US$0.60 per patient. The pilot interventions can become a key element of universal health care in Madagascar with the support of external donors.

The purpose of this study was to examine the Political Conflict Management in the Great Lakes Region, case of Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo. The specific question studied in this research was to understand

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a major food and fodder crop cultivated on 1.54 million ha in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In December 2013, unusually severe chlorotic mottle symptoms and pale green streaks were observed in local varieties (Mudishi 1 and 2, Bambou, Kasayi, H614, H613, and Mugamba) and exotic varieties (H520, H624, H403, HDK8031, and ZM607) in Beni, Lubero, and Rutshuru territories at 1,015 to 1,748 m elevation in North Kivu Province. Symptoms were prominent on newly emerging leaves that later developed marginal necrosis resembling the symptoms of maize lethal necrosis (MLN), caused by a dual infection of Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV, genus Machlomovirus) and Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV, genus Potyvirus). Each of these viruses, but particularly MCMV, is also known to cause severe mosaic and mottling symptoms in maize (4). In January 2014, symptomatic and asymptomatic samples (n = 20) from disease-affected fields in Beni and Lubero provinces were collected for virus testing using Whatman FTA Classic Cards (1) and analyzed for MCMV (2681F: 5'-ATGAGAGCAGTTGGGGAATGCG and 3226R: 5'-CGAATCTACACACACACACTCCAGC) and SCMV (8679F: 5'-GCAATGTCGAAGAAAATGCG and 9595R: 5'-GTCTCTCACCAAGAGACTCGCAGC) by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR (4). Samples were also analyzed for Maize streak virus (MSV, genus Mastrevirus), an endemic virus in DRC, by PCR using MSV specific primers (MSV215-234: CCAAAKDTCAGCTCCTCCG and MSV1770-1792: TTGGVCCGMVGATGTASAG) (3). A DNA product of expected size (~520 bp) resulted only for MCMV in all the symptomatic plant samples. None of the samples tested positive for SCMV or MSV. RT-PCR analyses were performed to ascertain the absence of potyviruses using the degenerate potyvirus primers (CIFor: 5'GGIVVIGTIGGIWSIGGIAARTCIAC and CIRev: 5'ACICCRTTYTCDATDATRTTIGTIGC3') (2) were also negative. Occurrence of MCMV in symptomatic samples was further confirmed by antigen-coated plate (ACP)-ELISA using anti-MCMV rabbit polyclonal antibodies produced at the Virology Unit, IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria. The RT-PCR product of MCMV was purified and sequenced in both directions (GenBank Accession No. KJ699379). Pairwise comparison of 518 bp nucleotide sequence corresponding to p32 and p37 open reading frames of MCMV by BLASTn search revealed 99.8% nucleotide sequence identity with an MCMV isolate from Kenya (JX286709), 98 to 99% identity with the isolates from China (JQ982468 and KF010583), and 96% identity with the isolates from the United States (X14736 and EU358605). MCMV is a newly emerging virus in Africa, first detected during a severe MLND outbreak in 2011 in Kenya (4). This disease has since become a serious threat to maize production in East Africa. MCMV has been reported in maize from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. To our knowledge, this is the first report of MCMV occurrence in DRC. This finding confirms the further geographic expansion of MCMV and illustrates the need for further studies to identify vectors and also create awareness about the disease and to strengthen surveillance to prevent its further spread in the continent.