Kinshasa - Post Report Question and Answers
What are the particular advantages of living in this city?
COLA and post diff, though we debated if it was really worth it at times. - May 2024
You can get promoted in your career and build capital to go to a nicer post down the road. You can invest time in your hobbies, and re-invent yourself learning new skills. - Aug 2022
There are a lot of fun, funny, and surprising experiences to be had in Kinshasa. It just takes maintaining an open attitude, a willingness to explore, and a sense of humor. An errand to go buy car parts can easily turn into a full day adventure navigating new and exciting markets, or you might unexpectedly stumble upon wriggling caterpillars for sale at the fancy grocery store, or your drive to work might involve someone on the street trying to sell you a box full of adorable kittens. If you're up for adventure, daily life in Kinshasa will provide you with it! Another big advantage is career progression. Congo is recognized as a challenging place to live and work, and many people coming out of this post are rewarded with promotion and a nice posting. - May 2022
Culture. This is an exciting time with lots of changes politically and economically. You'll never be bored. - Aug 2019
Kinshasa has more amenities than many West African capitals, just owing to its size, though I found it to be much less developed than capitals in east and southern Africa. DRC is an insane country and definitely makes for an interesting place to live, though that comes with a lot of frustration. - Apr 2019
Cheap household help, decent housing, ability to save money, great weather if you are into tropical climate, decent expat community, quick and easy to get to South Africa. - Dec 2017
None that I can see. - Dec 2017
Because so few people choose to come here, I think of Kinshasa as "the land of opportunity" for finding interesting jobs with a high level of responsibility. There is a lot of need here, so you (and family members) can be choosy about what job to take. Most employers offer generous supplements to the usual salary, so it's possible to save cash even with the high cost of living.
There are enough restaurants that you won't get easily bored with them and it's possible to find most food imports you could want.
People with kids in the schools also seem really happy--there seems to be a good community there and I've heard the quality of education is high. - Jan 2017
You'll never experience something like it again. - Sep 2016
It is a unique experience to live in Kinshasa - it is not a city or a country with any real "tourist" population and so most of the world has never been here (and will never be here) which allows for a really fascinating daily life. The weather is hot, but manageable - we have a "dry season" from June to September, and a wet season thereafter - but the wet season is full of huge amazing thunderstorms and then bright sunny (and hot) days, so it is not rainy all the time. We have also been able to save money here - if you are a USG family the COLA is high and the post differential is high - the prices here are surprisingly high as well, but if you can learn to live without the most expensive imported things (ie: a bunch of asparagus for US$15) then you can definitely save money. The biggest advantage in my view, however, is the tight-knit community here. We make our own fun and we have lots of it. - Apr 2016
The DRC is a fascinating country, full of contradictions and difficulties, but never boring. It is a genuine hardship post but we have found daily life in Kinshasa to be quite livable with almost everything available, albeit for a price. The weather is not at all oppressive with temperatures in the upper 70s/low 80s (F) during the dry season (April - September) and, while much more humid, rarely above low-mid-90s during the rainy season (Sept/Oct - Mar/Apr). The small slice of Kinshasa in which most expats spend the vast majority of their time is easy to get around, filled with good restaurants, has a lively nightlife and music scene, offers plenty of sports and other clubs for gatherings, and has a number of western-style shops. - Jan 2014
Good weather, good restaurants, large expat community, inexpensive fresh produce, saving money, very good golf and tennis club. - Nov 2012
Good money with post differential and COLA. - May 2012
Kinshasa is a very difficult place to live. There aren't many advantages, but you can appreciate the life you have compared to those around you. - Feb 2012
None really, nothing to do...everything is very difficult to do. - Nov 2011
It is quite ok as a family duty station. Our kids loved it here, amongst others due to the pool and a decent American school. The weather is quite friendly, domestic personnel is easy to get by. Don't expect too much in terms of tourist outings or culture (although things are changing, but slowly slowly, with the rhytm of the country). Even though there is not much to spend on other then food, food and food, don't expect to save much. Prices are very high. To the upside: pretty much everything you want is available (but you have to sometimes look for it) - Aug 2011
There is the increased cola and hazard pay-that is not that much, all things considered. The increased cola is wiped out by the increased cost of things in DRC.Delights? This is a country coming out of years of civil war, strife, tribal genocide. The infra-structure is broke and not going to be fixed any time soon. DRC is not Paris or London. There are few ‘sights’ that are in any kind of shape, everything seems to be in a constant state of repair or is just broke. That being said, I have meet some great people here, who are all sharing the same thing and who all pulling together to make this as good an assignment as they can. We have made friendships here that will last a lifetime. - Jan 2011
It's a unique, crazy place to be, and it gives one the opportunity to learn a lot about one self, as well as about a foreign culture. - Oct 2010
