Rabat Business School Launches Africa’s First Triple Bachelor in Business

Rabat – Rabat Business School (RBS) is teaming up with HEC Montreal and IESEG School of Management to launch Africa’s first triple bachelor’s degree in business.

The three institutions announced the launch of the program in a statement on Tuesday, explaining that the aim is to offer “an ever-richer multicultural learning experience in an international environment.”

The program will welcome its first cohort in September 2024 adding that it will allow students to spend their first year of study in Rabat, before moving to study one year on IESEG’s campus in Paris, and then complete the final two years at HEC in Montreal.

At the end of their program, students will have a degree from the three institutions.

Commenting on the launch of the program, Olivier Aptel, Dean of RBS, said, “Today, we are taking a crucial step in our international development, with an extremely demanding program.”

Aptel explained that the partnership required two years of work to align the three schools’ programs and offer a “coherent and truly innovative bachelor’s degree. “He stressed, “At the end of this International Triple Bachelor in Business, our students will have acquired the intercultural agility skills sought after by companies.”

The 240 ECTS program aims to train students in the international business environment.

Whether in marketing, finance, accounting, human resources, strategy, entrepreneurship, or even operations management, students will follow a general curriculum during the first three years, before specializing in the final year. There is a mandatory internship requirement as part of the program.

On his part, Federico Pasin, Director of HEC Montreal said that this initiative is the result of an “unprecedented” collaboration between the three institutions.

“We have imagined, built, and launched a program on three continents – Africa, Europe, and North America – whose journey will culminate in obtaining a globally recognized triple degree,” he stated.

He further added that the collaboration “aims to cultivate the leadership of the next generation of managers in the business world, by promoting their transversal and strategic thinking, while anchoring them in their local environment and connecting them on an international scale.”

“This initiative once again demonstrates  our commitment to training leaders who are open to the world and who master both technical  and interpersonal skills,” he concluded.

For the first cohort, the program aims to recruit around thirty students and will be open to students of all nationalities who are bilingual in French and English.

“This Triple Bachelor is a unique opportunity offered to our future students. Studying in three culturally rich countries will allow everyone to open up, gain maturity and intercultural soft skills which are highly sought after nowadays in companies all over the world,” said Caroline Roussel, Dean of IESEG.

Roussel adds that each student “will benefit from personalized support and all the necessary help with administrative procedures to offer them  the highest quality student experience.”

Under the program, students will hold a Bachelor of International Program Management from RBS, a Bachelor in International Business from IESEG, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from HEC Montreal.

The program is part of RBS’ ongoing efforts to become a continental leader in business education. In 2022, RBS became the first business school to appear on the Financial Times’ ranking of the best business schools in the world.

One year later, the school rose from 86th to 54th place, marking the most significant advancement for any school on the list, RBS’ Dean Olivier Aptel said on the sidelines of announcing the launch of the program.

Part of the International University of Rabat, RBS’ excellence is evident in its international integration. The school currently boasts an enrollment of 2,500 students, including over 350 international students, claiming the top spot in Moroccan business schools for enrollment numbers.

In addition, around 30% of the student body find jobs abroad after graduation, according to Dean Aptel in a December 2023 press conference.

“Since 2022, Rabat Business School is the first business school in Africa, in terms of publications, in peer-reviewed journals, in the management science area, and in terms of number of citations,” Aptel told Morocco World News (MWN) in an interview in December.

The school is hoping to catalyze international integration and academic research to attract international faculty and become a benchmark business institution, not only for Morocco but around the world.