Hicham El Habti
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University

“While techniques are global, innovations must be local, in order to take into consideration the reality on the ground,” says the president of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), a subsidiary of the OCP Group, headed by Mostafa Terrab. Opened in 2017, UM6P quickly established itself as one of the continent’s technology hubs, not least through its AI-accelerated research centre (AI-ARC). Since 2024, the Benguérir campus, near Marrakech, has hosted the Deep Tech Summit, where speakers work on the practical application of AI to climate, food and industrial challenges. As a subsidiary of the world’s leading producer of phosphate fertilisers, UM6P takes a particular interest in agriculture: soil studies, water stress, yield modelling… Last October, the institution signed a memorandum of understanding with the Belgian company Syensqo to combine their talents in a joint AI laboratory, AI-LAB. UM6P’s researchers are convinced that AI can accelerate the transition towards more efficient and sustainable industrial systems, in step with the great challenges facing humanity. Hicham El Habti is certain of it: “Africa is going to be the solution to all the issues, for the whole world.”