HIBAPRESS
The International University of Rabat celebrated its 15th anniversary on Wednesday in Rabat, a phase marked by numerous international awards and accreditations that consolidated the strength of its academic, scientific, and institutional model and confirmed its international influence.
Over 15 years, the International University of Rabat has succeeded in building a strong identity and a model path, by strengthening more than 300 academic partnerships with prestigious universities around the world, developing internationally recognized programs that meet global standards, creating a leading environmental university campus in Morocco, and establishing research and innovation at the heart of its societal mission.
Through these achievements, the university affirms its commitment to producing and transferring knowledge and values for the societies of tomorrow, forming responsible citizens, and accompanying the influence of Morocco and Africa on the international scene.
On this occasion, the President of the International University of Rabat, Noureddine Mouaddib, said in a statement to the press that the university, since its establishment, has outlined a clear strategy aimed at establishing a university in Morocco that meets international standards and aspires to be among the world-ranked African institutions, stressing that "this ambition requires respecting precise standards, at the forefront of which is academic excellence, as evidenced by international accreditations."
He highlighted, in this regard, the accreditations the university received after 15 years of its establishment, including the dual American (AACSB) and European (EQUIS) accreditation for the Rabat Business School affiliated with the university, as well as its international and continental ranking.
He also pointed to the American "ABET" and European "label EUR-ACE" accreditations, which contribute to the influence of the Moroccan university as a whole, reminding, in this context, that the goal remains to strengthen the presence of national higher education among international students, universities, and companies.
In discussing international rankings, Mouaddib mentioned that the university currently appears in many international rankings, including "Times Higher Education" and "QS," which testifies to the quality of its research and training, highlighting the university's position in the field of innovation, where it has held, for the sixth consecutive year, the first place in Africa in the field of patent filing, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization, with nearly 700 patents filed, 20 percent of which are international.
The President added that these results would not have been possible without the involvement of a high-level teaching and research faculty, half of whom are Moroccans in the diaspora who chose to return to their homeland, in addition to international professors who represent about 25 percent of the total staff.
He praised, on this occasion, the decisive role of the contributors to the International University of Rabat, especially the Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion, the Banque Populaire Centrale (BCP), the mutual company "MAMDA-MCMA", the "RCAR" fund, as well as the initial support from the state, which enabled the development of structured projects, especially the new medical pole and a 440-bed hospital under construction, which is expected to provide more than 1,000 additional jobs.
He also called for "strategic thinking aimed at making the Rabat–Salé–Kenitra region a real continental hub for the health and knowledge economy," considering that the existing infrastructure offers unique possibilities to achieve this ambition.
For his part, the Dean and General Director of the Rabat Business School at the International University of Rabat, Nicolas Arnaud, said that celebrating the 15th anniversary of the university is an opportunity to highlight the major achievements of the business school.
He mentioned that the academic year 2025-2026 was marked by two announcements of international importance; the first relates to the entry of the Rabat Business School into the 20th position in the "Financial Times" ranking for the best "Masters in Management," after it held the 86th position four years ago.
The second achievement, the same speaker added, is obtaining the European "EQUIS" accreditation, which complements the American "AACSB" accreditation obtained in 2020, explaining that only 220 business schools in the world have "EQUIS" accreditation.
He explained that "this recognition allows us to enter the limited circle of 2 percent of accredited international business schools, and we are the only Moroccan school that benefits from it," adding that only five African institutions now hold this distinction.
The official confirmed that the institution aspires to obtain, starting next year, a third international accreditation to join the exclusive 1 percent list of the best business schools in the world.
The International University of Rabat, which was founded in 2010 as part of a pioneering partnership between the public and private sectors, has become a reference actor in higher education in Morocco and Africa within a decade and a half, as it combines academic requirements, innovation, applied research, and international openness.
The prestigious "Times Higher Education World University Rankings" (THE WUR) published its ranking of the best performing universities worldwide on October 9, 2025. The International University of Rabat achieved a remarkable entry by ranking second nationally (among 12 Moroccan universities ranked) and among the top 1,000 universities globally, alongside institutions from 115 countries and regions around the world.
The "THE WUR" ranking evaluates the performance of universities according to five main pillars: teaching (learning environment), research environment (size, revenue, and reputation), research quality (impact, excellence, and influence), internationalization (staff, students, research), and industry engagement (patents and revenue).
This performance is added to the "THE Impact" ranking, in which the International University of Rabat holds the first national position for the fourth consecutive year, in recognition of its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.
With the beginning of the academic year 2025-2026, the International University of Rabat has received many international reference awards – "EQUIS," "Financial Times Ranking (FT)," "ABET," "CTI & Label EUR-ACE," in addition to the "ISO 14001" certificate, which confirms the recognition of its unique model, the academic excellence of its training programs, the quality of its research, its societal impact, and its environmental commitment.
By joining the limited circle of African institutions mentioned in the "FT" ranking, the International University of Rabat confirms the competitiveness and quality of its management programs.
The "EQUIS" global accreditation, awarded by "EFMD," recognizes the academic excellence, research quality, and societal impact of the Rabat Business School, while the American "ABET" accreditation testifies to the scientific accuracy of its engineering programs.
In addition, the European accreditations for engineering schools, "CTI & Label EUR-ACE," testify to the compliance of the programs with international standards, while the environmental management certificate, "ISO 14001," establishes the university's commitment to sustainability and environmentally responsible management of its campus.
The International University of Rabat is also distinguished by its African leadership in the field of patents and the gold medals it has received at the International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, rewarding the pioneering innovations carried out by its researchers.
These successes testify to the scientific maturity and spirit of innovation that characterize the model of the International University of Rabat, built around an integrated system of research, entrepreneurship, and technology transfer.
(With MAP)
