Course Staff
Prof. Vincent Manirakiza
Vincent Manirakiza is an Associate Professor of Geography Education at the University of Rwanda. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and Geography with Education from the Kigali Institute of Education and completed both a Specialized Master’s in Development, Environment, and Communities, as well as a PhD in Population and Development with a specialization in urbanization, from the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) in Belgium. His research extensively covers urbanization and urban studies, with a focus on urban growth, residents’ livelihoods, neighborhood dynamics, and the relationship between urban planning policies and informal settlements, along with their spatial and socio-environmental impacts. He is involved in several research works and participates in multiple local and international research conferences and projects as a Principal Investigator, Researcher, Programme Lead, and Consultant. A notable example is Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods (SHLC) project. He is a member of the Rwanda Urban Planning Institute (RUPI).
Dr. Ernest Uwayezu
Ernest Uwayezu is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Rwanda (UR), College of Science and Technology, Centre for Geographic information Systems and Remote Sensing (CGIS-UR) since 2008. He teaches in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in different Department and Schools of UR. He holds a Doctoral Degree in urban land management, obtained from the Technische Universität München (TUM: Technical University of Munich), Ingenieurfakultät Bau Geo Umwelt (Faculty of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering), Germany. He holds a Master of Science degree in Geo-Information Science, focusing on the application of GIS and Remote Sensing in land administration and management, obtained from the University of Twente, in The Netherlands. Prior to this, he completed his undergraduate studies at the former National University of Rwanda (Currently, the University of Rwanda), where he obtained a Bachelor degree in Physical and Human Geography. He has more than 15 years of work experience in teaching and research. His research interests include spatial data dissemination, land use planning, inclusive urban development, land tenure and property rights, land governance and tenure security, and management of conflicts related to natural resources use. He supervises both MSc and PhD in different domains, including natural resources management, urban (re-)development. He also has a good experience in the development and review of academic programmes related to land management, urban and rural planning and development, and geo-information science.
Dr. Olivier Habimana
Olivier HABIMANA is Senior Lecturer at the University of Rwanda, College of Education, Rukara Campus. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering Specialized in Computer Application Technology from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, in 2020. In 2016, he obtained his MSc in Computer science from the Department of Computer Science, University of Mysore, India. His research interest is ICT in Education, data science, social network analysis, data mining, sentiment analysis, machine learning, and deep learning. He has published a number of articles and leads various project related computer science and ICT in education.
Ms. Lilian Mupende Uwanziga
Liliane Uwanziga Mupende - MSc., PMP®, CDPM®, Eisenhower Fellow. Sustainable Urbanization Expert with over 15 years of experience, currently leading Adaptation and Green Cities initiatives at GGGI Rwanda Program. Previously, as Senior Green City Development Specialist, supporting Rwanda’s Greening Secondary Cities initiative. Before joining GGGI, she served as CEO of Ultimate Developers Ltd., where she led the execution of Vision City Phase 1, Rwanda’s largest residential neighbourhood. Her transition into the private sector followed over seven years with the City of Kigali, where, as Director of Urban Planning and Construction One Stop Centre, she led a diverse team in driving the city's sustainable growth and enhancing the investment climate through innovative service delivery. Her work spans both the public and private sectors, contributing to policies, strategies, flagship projects, and innovative solutions in sustainable urbanization, housing, construction, infrastructure, transport, and climate resilience. Anchored by Project Management, her key areas of expertise include Urban and Regional Planning, Housing, Land Use Planning, Climate Resilience, Urban Infrastructure, and Transport. She has served on the boards of the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority and the Rwanda Institute of Architects. Currently, she is a board member of the Rwanda Transport Development Authority.
