Skip to main content

Accra ⇄ Kinshasa · One stop via Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Lomé or Casablanca · DR Congo · Checked October 2026

Kinshasa from Accra: rumba, the river and Lumumba's city

Kinshasa is one of Africa's biggest cities: more than fifteen million people on the bank of the Congo River, with Brazzaville, another capital, in sight across the water. It is loud, chaotic, expensive, endlessly musical and unlike anywhere else. For Ghanaians it is also a city with a shared story: Patrice Lumumba, the Congo's first prime minister, found his pan-African voice in Accra in 1958. There is no nonstop flight, but several good one-stop routes. Here is how to get there, where to stay, and what to know.

DR Congo in brief

Key facts

  • Capital: Kinshasa.
  • Airport: N'djili International Airport (FIH), about 25 km east of the centre. In traffic, the drive into Gombe can take one to two hours.
  • From Accra: one stop, via Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Lomé or Casablanca, or via Brussels from Europe.
  • Time: Kinshasa is on West Africa Time, UTC+1, one hour ahead of Ghana. The east of the country is two hours ahead.
  • Currency: Congolese franc (CDF). US dollars are used for most larger payments, including hotels.
  • Languages: French (official), Lingala in Kinshasa, plus Swahili, Kikongo and Tshiluba as national languages.
  • Independence: 30 June 1960, from Belgium.
  • Size: Africa's second-largest country by area, and one of its most populous.

Flights from Accra to Kinshasa

RouteAirlineNotes
Via Addis AbabaEthiopian AirlinesFrequent and reliable, but a long way east and back.
Via NairobiKenya AirwaysDaily from Accra, with onward flights to Kinshasa.
Via LoméASKY AirlinesThe most direct line on the map; check days of operation.
Via CasablancaRoyal Air MarocOften with a long connection.
Via BrusselsBrussels AirlinesUseful if you are coming from Europe.

Read this before booking

Compare the total journey: some routings via East Africa or Morocco add many hours. Check every leg on the airline's own website, and keep a buffer day on the way home.

Addis Ababa Nairobi Lomé Brussels

Ghana and Kinshasa right now

Local time in both cities, the weather at this moment, and a converter between cedis, Congolese francs and the main currencies.

Say it in Lingala

  • Mbote: hello.
  • Sango nini? What's new? The answer is Sango te, nothing much.
  • Matondo: thank you.

Kinshasa lies just south of the equator: hot and humid most of the year, with a long rainy season from about October to May and a cooler, drier season from June to September.

Entry and arrival

  • Visa needed: DR Congo is not part of ECOWAS, and Ghanaians need a visa. Arrange it before you travel; check the current procedure with the DR Congo embassy or official e-visa service.
  • Yellow fever: a vaccination certificate is compulsory and checked on arrival.
  • N'djili airport: arrivals can be slow and confusing. Have your invitation or hotel booking, visa papers and yellow fever card ready.
  • Arrange your pickup in advance: this is the single most important tip. Do not arrive without someone waiting for you.

Where to stay, and how to get from the airport

Many Kinshasa hotels offer a free or paid airport transfer, and for a first visit it is by far the safest way into the city. Contact the hotel before you travel, send your flight number, and ask them to confirm the pickup in writing. Most visitors stay in Gombe, the central business district by the river, which has the main hotels, embassies and restaurants.

Hotel links open on Expedia in a new tab. Prices and transfer conditions are set by each hotel; confirm them directly before you travel.

Ghana and the Congo: Nkrumah and Lumumba

In December 1958 Kwame Nkrumah hosted the All-African People's Conference in Accra. Among the delegates was a young Congolese activist, Patrice Lumumba. He went home inspired, and within eighteen months he was prime minister of an independent Congo. When the new state was torn apart by secession and foreign intervention in 1960, Ghana was one of the first countries to send troops to the United Nations mission there, and Nkrumah remained Lumumba's strongest ally. Lumumba was murdered in January 1961. In 2022, Belgium returned a tooth, the only known remains, to his family; it now lies in a memorial in Kinshasa.

DR Congo on our Congo portal Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park They Made Ghana

Kinshasa: what to see

  • The Congo RiverThe world's deepest river, with Brazzaville visible on the far bank: two capitals face to face.
  • Lola ya BonoboA sanctuary for orphaned bonobos, the great apes found only in the Congo, on the edge of the city.
  • National Museum of the DRCOpened in 2019, with masks, instruments and objects from across the country.
  • Lumumba MemorialAt the Échangeur de Limete, where his remains were laid to rest in 2022.
  • Rumba and nightlifeCongolese rumba is on UNESCO's list of the world's intangible heritage. Hear it live in Matonge and Bandal.
  • Académie des Beaux-ArtsThe art school whose artists shaped modern Congolese painting and sculpture.

Tours and experiences in DR Congo, booked in advance with local operators. Entrance fees are included in the tour price; tips are not included but always welcome.

Onward from Kinshasa

Honest tips for Kinshasa

  • The east is a different country: armed conflict continues in the eastern provinces, including North and South Kivu and Ituri. Most governments advise against travel there. Kinshasa is far away, on the other side of the country.
  • Pickup, always: arrange your airport transfer through your hotel or a trusted contact. Do not take random offers at the airport.
  • Expensive city: hotels, restaurants and drivers cost much more than in Accra. Budget in US dollars and bring clean, recent notes.
  • Photography: do not photograph police, soldiers, government buildings or the river crossings without permission. It can lead to serious trouble.
  • Traffic: Kinshasa's traffic is legendary. Allow plenty of time for any journey, especially to the airport.
  • Mind the clock: Kinshasa is one hour ahead of Accra; Lubumbashi and Goma are two hours ahead.

More flights from Accra

GhanaFlights.info home All 24 airlines Accra International Airport Embassies in Accra

Read and listen across Africa

Before you fly, tune in to the country you are going to. Live radio from all over the continent, in one place.

All African Radio Stations DR Congo portal

Search our Network. Start here.

Part of the Ghana-Net network

GhanaFlights.info belongs to an independent network of more than 70 travel, heritage and information websites, which began with ghana-net.com in December 2000. No Google advertising, no sponsored praise, no picture-postcard copy: just the routes and the places, as they are.

Ghana: Ghana-Net.com · Ghana-Net.net (Deutsch) · GhanaWeb-News.com · Travel News · MyGhana2027.com · GhanaHotels.biz · GhanaTrails.com · HoInGhana.com · Ghana3d.com · GhanaMirrors.com · Ghana Radio Live · Network map

Castles and forts: Elmina Castle · Cape Coast Castle · Cape Coast Castle Museum · Oguaa Fetu Afahye · Osu Castle · James Fort · Ussher Fort · Fort Vissão · Fort Good Hope · Fort Amsterdam · Fort William, Anomabo · Fort San Sebastian · Fort Orange · Fort Batenstein · Fort Metal Cross · Fort Prinzenstein · Kumasi Fort

Museums, memorials and history: GhanaMuseums.com · National Museum · Volta Regional Museum · Upper East Regional Museum · Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park · Nkrumah Mausoleum, Nkroful · W. E. B. Du Bois Centre · Cape Coast War Cemetery · Erased Graves · 1939 Earthquake Archive · Akosombo Dam · Alokoto, Gbawe

Nature and parks: Kakum National Park · Mole National Park · Paga Crocodiles · Shai Hills · Aburi Botanical Gardens

Africa: AfricanIndependence.com · Uganda · Ethiopia · Egypt · Morocco · DR Congo · Sierra Leone · NigerianRadio.com · Explore Nigeria · KenyaWebNews.com · Kenya National Parks · GambiaVibes.com · SenegalVibes.com · GuineaVibes.com · GuineaInfo.com · BeninVibes.com · BurkinaVibes.com · BurundiVibes.com · ZambiaVibes.com · Denegal.com

Beyond Africa, and the people behind it: BritainAdventures.com · GhanaNet.co.uk · KenyaWebNews.co.uk · 1001Radio.com · Thailand · Ghana0.com: Remo Kurka's blog · V2 and Peenemünde · GhanaPhotographer.com · Photography and web design · Last Minute Photographer

Updated and fact-checked: 28 October 2026. Flight connections from airline networks as published; history from standard sources on Ghana, the Congo, Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba. Visa rules and security conditions can change; always check current advice and confirm flights and hotel transfers directly before travelling. Text and research by Remo Kurka for GhanaFlights.info. This website carries no Google advertising.