The museum is a center of knowledge and resources on Africa and in particular Central Africa, in a historical, contemporary and global context. The museum has unique collections. It is a place of memory on the colonial past and is located/positioned as a dynamic platform for exchange and dialogue between cultures and between generations.

The history of Central Africa is long and rich. To study it, researchers at the museum and other research institutions work in multidisciplinary teams involving archaeologists, botanists, linguists, historians, zoologists, etc.