Roofing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) covers most of the Congo basin: equatorial rainforest at its centre, savanna to the north and south, and highlands along the eastern Rift. Unlike its East African neighbours, the DRC remains a country of plant-material roofs. In the 2017-18 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), about two-thirds of sampled households lived under thatch or palm leaf, and fewer than a third under metal sheet. Its history includes some of the largest timber and palm buildings recorded in Africa, the royal halls of the Mangbetu kingdom in the north-east.

Climate and hazards

Much of the country is hot and humid, with high rainfall spread through most of the year near the equator and distinct wet and dry seasons further north and south. Roofs must shed frequent heavy rain, resist rot and insects, and, under metal sheet, cope with intense heat gain: residents of western DRC describe metal-roofed houses as suffocatingly hot.

Roofing history

Mangbetu kingdom. In the 19th century the Mangbetu of the north-east (today's Haut-Uele) built royal capitals entirely of wood. When the German botanist Georg Schweinfurth stayed at the capital of King Mbunza (reigned 1867-1873), Nangazizi, in 1870, he described a great public hall about 150 ft long, 50 ft wide and 50 ft high (about 46 x 15 x 15 m), with vaulted arches carried on rows of pillars made from straight tree trunks. Rafters and roofing were of palm leafstalks, and the floor was plastered with red clay polished smooth. A later hall built under King Okondo (reigned 1902-1915), photographed around 1909, used a gable roof instead of the arched vault but was otherwise similar. Historians treat parts of Schweinfurth's short account as embellished.

Kuba kingdom. The Kuba kingdom, founded around 1625 under Shyaam a-Mbul a Ngoong between the Sankuru, Lulua and Kasai rivers, flourished until the late 19th century. Its houses near the capital, Mushenge, were photographed under construction in the 20th century.

Kongo. The old Kongo kingdom straddled the lower Congo; its capital, Mbanza Kongo, lies in present-day Angola.

Forest peoples. In the Ituri forest, Mbuti (Bambuti) shelters are framed with crossed sticks and covered with layered mongongo leaves, a light leaf dome related to the Baka móngulu of the western forests.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Thatch and palm leaf on round and rectangular houses throughout the country; conical clay-and-thatch huts and rectangular wattle-and-daub houses with saddle (gable) roofs are both documented in historical photographs.
• Mangbetu hall: vaulted or gabled timber hall with palm leafstalk rafters and roofing.
• Mongongo leaf dome of the Ituri forest peoples (see Mongulu).
• Split-bamboo roofs in Kongo Central (formerly Bas-Congo): bamboo poles are dried, split lengthwise and laid in nesting rows, one row hollow side up and the next hollow side down, tied with rope, in the same way as a tiled roof.

Roofing today

The 2017-18 MICS recorded the main roof material for 20,790 households in its public data file. Unweighted shares of sampled households were:

Main roof material	Share of household records (unweighted)
Thatch / palm leaf	63.8%
Grass	5.1%
Metal / aluminium / sheet (tôle)	28.7%
Tiles	0.4%
Palm / bamboo	0.5%
Cement	0.2%
Other and minor categories	about 1.3%

These are counts of sampled households, not weighted national estimates, but they show how far the DRC differs from East Africa: natural roofs still outnumber metal by more than two to one.

In parts of Kongo Central, split-bamboo roofs had spread by 2011 as a cheaper and cooler alternative to metal sheeting, replacing leaky straw roofs; residents noted that they do not need a ceiling beneath them. Environmentalists have warned that rising demand could lead to over-cutting of bamboo, whose roots help hold soil.

Notable roofs

• Mangbetu royal halls (19th-early 20th century, no longer standing): described as rivalling some of the largest wooden structures in the world.

Local roofing terms

• madiadi (local word at Lemba, Kongo Central): bamboo.
• tôle (French): metal roofing sheet.
• mongongo: leaves used to cover Mbuti shelters.

Sources and gaps

Detailed descriptions of Kuba roofs: published information is limited. No information on domestic roofing manufacturers was found in published sources.

MICS shares are unweighted record counts shown in the World Bank Microdata Library and may differ from the survey's official weighted tables. Kuba house and roof construction, Nyanga architecture and national building regulations: published information is limited.