We are proud to announce that Africa Centre director Munya Saruchera has received the distinguished academic rank of associate professor, effective from July 2026. He shared some of the achievements and highlights that led up to this milestone and what it could mean for him and the Africa Centre going forward.
What does receiving the rank of associate professor mean to you personally and professionally?
It is both quite humbling and encouraging, given that I only became a fulltime academic in 2021, when I became a senior lecturer at the Africa Centre. The applied and varied background skills and experiences I accumulated during my professional working life outside the academic sector are extremely useful and I believe they give me an edge in my approach to, understanding of and engagement with academic work.
What have been some of your proudest milestones, research breakthroughs or projects during your time with the centre that contributed to this promotion?
Some of the most exciting ones have involved working with students and peers. This includes engaging with the centre’s postdoctoral research fellows and PgDip, MPhil and PhD students who are professionals in their own right and who bring rich and diverse perspectives. In a similar vein, mentorship, collaboration and partnership with senior and seasoned academics like Prof Pregala Pillay and others created the opportunity to combine our collective academic and non-academic experiences, perspectives and skills to the benefit of doctoral students that we co-supervise.
Other highlights include leading the Africa Centre through its strategic revisioning process and rebranding; being involved in community engagement and social impact initiatives, including my time as chair of the Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) faculty’s transformation committee; the centre securing research grants from the International Labour Organisation in 2022 and the International Development Research Centre in Canada in 2026; my fellowships with the Stellenbosch University Research & Innovation Strategic Excellence (SUNRISE) programme and the African Institute of Public Health Professionals; and finally research and publication collaborations with various scholars in fulfilment of my transdisciplinary scholarship orientation.
How can your new academic rank benefit the Africa Centre and its initiatives?
I am the first Africa Centre faculty member to be promoted to this rank, one of many first experiences with the centre, which is quite special for me. The professoriate brings academic seniority and elevates the centre’s voice when engaging with fellow faculty members. It also means that the centre will qualify for opportunities that require members of the professoriate. And it will hopefully contribute to the growth of the centre’s academic research profile and appeal, attracting and inspiring colleagues and new seasoned academics to join the centre.
What are your primary goals or vision for the centre as well as your own research?
The centre’s goals and vision remain as expressed in our new vision and strategic direction communicated to our stakeholders last year when we launched the new strategy and as indicated in our positioning. For my own research, I am narrowing my transdisciplinary focus to critical management in the space of health management and policy, with a specific focus on distinct Afrocentric health leadership and management approaches, philosophies, principles, values and theories (away from the scientific management approaches of the so-called Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic or WEIRD nations), African cosmologies of wellbeing, management and spirituality, Africa’s care economy and related issues.
Is there anyone in particular you’d like to acknowledge in context of this promotion?
There are numerous people, including my colleagues-in-training (students), the supportive Prof Reza Daniels (dean of the EMS faculty and my line manager) and fellow EMS management committee members. Also Prof Pregala Pillay, Prof Kanshukan Rajaratnam, Prof Morenike Ukpong, Prof Rev Yaa Adobea Owusu, Prof Abdoulie Sallah, Prof Natasja Holtzhausen, Prof Olanrewaju Oladmeji, Prof Brian van Wyk, Prof Kennedy Dzama, my SUNRISE Cohort 1 and Africa Centre colleagues. I want to thank my family, who pays the biggest price in terms of my absence and unavailability as I dedicate time to academic enterprises and travels away from them. Last but by no means least, I want to thank my late mum, who never discouraged me in the endless pursuit of self-development and lifelong learning. She said she saw me joining the professoriate some day and now I have achieved it, albeit after her departure.