University Mohammed VI Polytechnic, a Moroccan university committed to addressing African and global challenges, has inaugurated on September 8, 2025, its United States (U.S.) Global Hub, marking an important step in connecting African talent and research ecosystems with global academic, entrepreneurial, and industrial partners. This initiative reflects a deliberate approach to position Africa’s sustainable development ambitions within international hubs of knowledge, capital, and technology.
The launch event, held in New York, was marked by the presence of His Excellency Mr. Youssef Amrani, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United States, and His Excellency Mr. Omar Hilale, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations in New York. With offices in New York and Cambridge, the new UM6P Global Hub extends the university’s capacity to connect American and African researchers, students, and entrepreneurs. By creating a collaboration hub, deepening existing partnerships and developing new collaborations with U.S. universities and research centers, it opens structured pathways for joint research projects and academic exchanges. It also builds a two ways bridge providing African start-ups and entrepreneurs with access to venture capital, technology networks, and industry expertise in North America, while creating channels for American innovations to be adapted and scaled in African contexts.
Since its inauguration in 2017, UM6P has pursued its mission of fostering African-centered learning, research, and innovation. The university focuses on key domains, including sustainable agriculture, renewable energy and the green transition, artificial intelligence and data science, water security, and industrial innovation. Its academic community now includes nearly 7,300 students, representing 40 nationalities, among them 1,000 PhD candidates. With 80% of students on scholarships, 60% of whom receive full scholarships, UM6P places inclusion and accessibility at the core of its mission. Its entrepreneurial ecosystem has supported more than 1,000 founders and idea holders to date, helping translate research into viable businesses. UM6P has also forged over 200 partnerships with universities, research centers, and industrial actors, including several leading U.S. institutions, opening pathways for joint research, mobility programs, and co-innovation. This foundation underpins the mission of the
new U.S. Hub, which aims to extend UM6P’s model of impact-driven academic and industrial collaboration to North America.
“UM6P was built on the idea that Africa’s future will be shaped by talent, science, and
innovation rooted in local realities but connected globally,” said Mr. Mehdi EL KHATIB,
Managing Director of UM6P Global Hub U.S. “The establishment of UM6P in the U.S. reflects our commitment to building these bridges, ensuring that African students, researchers, and entrepreneurs can both benefit from and contribute to the global knowledge economy.”
The UM6P U.S. Global Hub helps address three structural gaps in Africa’s innovation
ecosystem. First, it situates African research and entrepreneurship in direct dialogue with global knowledge circuits, enabling African actors to co-define problem statements and solutions. Second, it leverages the African diaspora as an operational resource, mobilizing intellectual and entrepreneurial capital dispersed across North America to collaborate on African development challenges. Third, it provides a mechanism for translating global technological advances into Africa context-specific applications. This new Global Hub launch positions the university to serve as a partner of choice for research and innovation on and for the African continent, while embedding this work within global conversations on sustainable development. With its branches now established in Canada, France, and the United States, UM6P is expanding its network while reinforcing Morocco’s role as a gateway to Africa for research, innovation, and investment.
