Hicham El Habti

Morocco

An engineer and manager, he heads Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), which has established itself as one of the major hubs of Africa’s scientific sovereignty.

President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and head of OCP Group’s Research, Innovation and Education division, Hicham El Habti is the driving force behind an extraordinary scientific venture. Inaugurated in 2017, UM6P was born out of a bold bet by Mostafa Terrab, chairman of OCP Group, who sought to equip Morocco with a world-class education and research institution open to Moroccan and African students. It also serves as a competitiveness engine for the group, bringing research and business together while incubating the industries of the future. The campus in Benguérir, near Marrakech, embodies this vision. It is a genuine scientific hub where advanced laboratories, deep-tech start-ups and programmes dedicated to data, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) work side by side. Theoretical research is systematically connected to economic challenges, particularly food production and the energy transition—core areas of activity for OCP Group [see pp. 118–119]. An engineer and software developer by training, Hicham El Habti believes in “making science a driver of progress directly connected to society’s needs.” Across Africa, UM6P plays a major role in agronomy, soil mapping, optimising agricultural inputs, yield modelling and renewable-energy solutions. The Green Energy Park, for example, is dedicated to sustainable technologies. Toubkal, the campus’s supercomputer—the most powerful on the continent, running 30% on green energy—develops practical applications for agriculture, healthcare, meteorology and space research. Hicham El Habti sees UM6P as a coherent ecosystem, serving both as an instrument of scientific sovereignty and a competitiveness hub, where digital modelling, laboratory experimentation and industrial innovation intersect and reinforce one another.