Université de Goma Is the First University in Africa to Accept Bitcoin Payments
In April 2026, students and entrepreneurs at Université de Goma did something no African university had done before. They sold chickens for Bitcoin.
It sounds simple. But that transaction — theory becoming practice on a university campus in eastern DRC — marks a milestone for the continent’s Bitcoin ecosystem. UNIGOM is now the first university in Africa to formally accept Bitcoin payments.
Gloire Wanzavalere, the Congolese Bitcoin educator behind the initiative, confirmed the news on X: “The University of Goma is the first in Africa to accept payments in Bitcoin.” (Source: @GloireKW on X)
The university’s own LinkedIn post described the rollout in two phases. After an initiation phase in March, students and entrepreneurs moved to real transactions in April — including the now-notable sale of chickens in Bitcoin. (Source: UNIGOM LinkedIn)
The Man Behind the Push
The story of Bitcoin at UNIGOM begins with Gloire Wanzavalere. He is a Congolese Bitcoin educator and community builder. For years, he has worked to make Goma a reference point for grassroots Bitcoin adoption in Africa.
Wanzavalere co-founded Kiveclair, a project inspired by El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach. Its goal is to build a Lightning-powered circular economy in one of the continent’s most underserved cities. He has also organized self-custody training sessions, Lightning Network meetups, and co-founded the Africa Bitcoin Conference. (Source: bitcoin.fr)
In 2025, he took that work inside the university. UNIGOM partnered with Tether Africa to establish a blockchain and AI center on campus. That center houses the “École Bitcoin” training program. (Source: web3africa.tech)
Taking grassroots Bitcoin education into an accredited institution is a deliberate escalation. His stated strategy has always been to foster Bitcoin education in Africa. Embedding it at the institutional level is the most durable version of that bet.
Why the University Setting Matters
Bitcoin education in Africa has mostly been driven by grassroots communities and independent educators. That work is essential. However, it operates outside formal credentials and institutional legitimacy. It also sits outside the pipeline that produces Africa’s next generation of engineers and policymakers.
A university-based Bitcoin program changes that. Students at UNIGOM are not just learning about Bitcoin theory. They are doing so inside an accredited institution. They are learning in a French-speaking African context. And they will go on to shape sectors across the DRC and the wider region.
Central Africa is becoming a significant node in the global Bitcoin education story. Research has identified four universities in Central Africa that accept cryptocurrency payments. That places the region second globally, behind only El Salvador. UNIGOM’s move deepens that trend.
The DRC Context Makes This Urgent
The Democratic Republic of Congo is not an abstract case study. The Congolese franc has experienced dramatic depreciation in recent years. Large portions of the population remain unbanked. Cross-border remittances are slow and costly.
In this environment, Bitcoin is not a speculative asset. It is infrastructure.
Wanzavalere has made this point clearly and consistently. Few places need Bitcoin more urgently than Goma. Formalizing Bitcoin education at UNIGOM means graduates will be equipped to build and teach systems that can improve lives directly. That matters in a city where the need is immediate.
A Broader Pattern Across the Continent
UNIGOM is not working in isolation. Across Africa, a generation of Bitcoin educators is building toward the same goal. They argue that lasting adoption requires education, that education requires community, and that community requires infrastructure.
In Malawi, the Bitcoin Diploma Program runs workshops at universities and onboards Lightning-enabled merchants. In Burundi, BTC Shule has trained over 40 young people through the MiPrimerBitcoin curriculum. In Cameroon, a French-language Bitcoin conference drew more than 400 attendees in person and reached 50,000 people online. (Source: web3africa.tech)
UNIGOM is one node in this growing network. But it is now the most institutionally anchored one on the continent.
What Comes Next
The École Bitcoin program at UNIGOM is still in its early phase. What it will produce — in graduates, research, and policy influence — remains to be seen. But the precedent is set.
A formal African university has made Bitcoin education a structural part of its mission. Not a one-off workshop. Not an elective no one attends. A permanent center, with real transactions already happening on campus.
For anyone watching the African Bitcoin ecosystem, Goma is a city worth following. The volcano is still there. So is the community building around it.
Sources: @GloireKW on X | UNIGOM LinkedIn | web3africa.tech | bitcoin.fr