[ Sciences des transports et transformation des États africains: Enjeux structurants et ancrage dans la formation universitaire - Le cas de la République Démocratique du Congo ]
NZUZI NZUZI André1 and NDUKA NZUZI Maurice2
1 Département de Physique et des Sciences Appliquées, Faculté des Sciences, Université Pédagogique Nationale (UPN), Kinshasa, RD Congo
2 Expert International en sécurité de transports ENAC-ALUMNI, France
Original language: French
Copyright © 2026 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Transport sciences form a multidisciplinary field whose contribution to economic and social development is well documented, yet whose academic institutionalisation remains weak in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. This article pursues a twofold objective: To clarify the structuring axes of the field, and to examine the conditions for anchoring them within African university curricula, drawing on the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The approach is qualitative, combining a review of the scientific and institutional literature, a documentary analysis of national sector data, and a comparative reading of existing academic programmes. Six structuring axes are identified: Infrastructure and asset management; operations, traffic and urban mobility; transport economics and logistics; safety and security; environment and energy; and governance, law and regulation. Each is linked to an explicit mechanism of developmental value creation, from the reduction of generalised travel costs to the widening of capabilities of access to essential services. The Congolese case reveals a sharp mismatch between the needs of a structurally multimodal territory of 2.34 million square kilometres and the scarcity of specialised training. The article therefore proposes a three-tier curriculum framework supported by a national transport observatory, work-based professionalisation and targeted research capacity building. Feasibility conditions, the risk of curricular mimicry and the limitations of the study are discussed.
Author Keywords: transport sciences, development, higher education, sub-Saharan Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, urban mobility, intermodality, human capital.
NZUZI NZUZI André1 and NDUKA NZUZI Maurice2
1 Département de Physique et des Sciences Appliquées, Faculté des Sciences, Université Pédagogique Nationale (UPN), Kinshasa, RD Congo
2 Expert International en sécurité de transports ENAC-ALUMNI, France
Original language: French
Copyright © 2026 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Transport sciences form a multidisciplinary field whose contribution to economic and social development is well documented, yet whose academic institutionalisation remains weak in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. This article pursues a twofold objective: To clarify the structuring axes of the field, and to examine the conditions for anchoring them within African university curricula, drawing on the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The approach is qualitative, combining a review of the scientific and institutional literature, a documentary analysis of national sector data, and a comparative reading of existing academic programmes. Six structuring axes are identified: Infrastructure and asset management; operations, traffic and urban mobility; transport economics and logistics; safety and security; environment and energy; and governance, law and regulation. Each is linked to an explicit mechanism of developmental value creation, from the reduction of generalised travel costs to the widening of capabilities of access to essential services. The Congolese case reveals a sharp mismatch between the needs of a structurally multimodal territory of 2.34 million square kilometres and the scarcity of specialised training. The article therefore proposes a three-tier curriculum framework supported by a national transport observatory, work-based professionalisation and targeted research capacity building. Feasibility conditions, the risk of curricular mimicry and the limitations of the study are discussed.
Author Keywords: transport sciences, development, higher education, sub-Saharan Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, urban mobility, intermodality, human capital.
Abstract: (french)
Les sciences des transports constituent un champ scientifique pluridisciplinaire dont la contribution au développement économique et social des États est largement documentée, mais dont l’institutionnalisation académique demeure faible en Afrique subsaharienne francophone. Le présent article poursuit un double objectif: Clarifier les axes structurants de ce champ et examiner les conditions de son ancrage dans la formation universitaire africaine, à partir du cas de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC). La démarche est qualitative et repose sur une revue de la littérature scientifique et institutionnelle, une analyse documentaire des données sectorielles nationales et une lecture comparée des offres de formation existantes. L’analyse identifie six axes structurants: L’axe infrastructurel et patrimonial; l’axe exploitation, trafic et mobilité urbaine; l’axe économique et logistique; l’axe sécurité et sûreté; l’axe environnemental et énergétique; et l’axe gouvernance, droit et régulation. Chacun est relié à un mécanisme explicite de création de valeur développementale, depuis la réduction du coût généralisé de déplacement jusqu’à l’élargissement des capabilités d’accès aux services essentiels. Le cas congolais fait apparaître un décalage marqué entre l’ampleur des besoins d’un territoire de 2,34 millions de kilomètres carrés, structurellement multimodal, et la faiblesse de l’offre de formation spécialisée. L’article propose un référentiel de formation articulé en trois niveaux, adossé à un observatoire national des transports et à un dispositif de professionnalisation par alternance. Les conditions de faisabilité, le risque de mimétisme curriculaire et les limites de l’étude sont discutés.
Author Keywords: sciences des transports, développement, formation universitaire, Afrique subsaharienne, République démocratique du Congo, mobilité urbaine, intermodalité, capital humain.
