Meet Dr Hope Muronga – One of Africa’s Youngest PhD Holder At Age 27

Dr Hope Muronga, a 27-year-old South African woman has become one of Africa’s youngest PhD holders. She holds a PhD in Economics from Southern Illinois University in the United States.

Born and raised in Limpopo, South Africa Dr Muronga is the first person in her family to go to university.

She started her university journey at the University of Pretoria where she graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics with distinction.

At 22, she obtained a Master’s in Economics with distinction from the same university.

It is hard to believe that this young lady from Limpopo, the first in her family to go to university, is now a Dr. Hope Muronga, a PhD in Economics graduate at 27. My father would be so proud. My mother encouraged me all the way from South Africa to the United States with the US Department of State, she said.

Her achievement in the field of academia wouldn’t have been made possible without the help and inspiration of her parents. Dr Muronga said her later father, who passed away during the Covid-19 pandemic, inspired her to keep working hard even in the toughest of days.

Her father passed away at the time she was in the United States studying for her PhD. She said she missed her father’s funeral because of travel restrictions at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

I dedicated my dissertation to my Dad, whose vision inspired me to keep working even in the most challenging times. He passed away during the pandemic, and I could not attend his funeral due to travel restrictions. The completion of this degree felt like a good send off and a thank you to my father, said Dr Muronga

Dr Muronga is currently a Fulbright Scholar and Research Award recipient at the University of Illinois.

Dr Muronga is not the first African and only African to obtain a PhD in their 20s. At age 23, Prof. Musawenkosi Donia Saurombe became a Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Psychology in 2017.