UM6P Joins APSIA as First African, MENA Member

Marrakech – Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) announced Wednesday that its Faculty of Governance, Economics and Social Sciences (FGSES), based in Rabat, has joined the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), becoming the first institution from Africa and the MENA region to enter the network.

APSIA, incorporated as a non-profit organization on April 13, 1989, brings together 40 full members and 30 affiliate schools globally.

Its roster includes institutions such as Georgetown University, Harvard Kennedy School, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Columbia University, Sciences Po Paris, the London School of Economics, and the Geneva Graduate Institute, among others.

Full membership grants voting rights in APSIA’s Council of Members, eligibility for leadership positions, and full participation in the association’s events and programs. Admission requires an application review by the membership committee followed by a vote by the Council of Members.

Karim El Aynaoui, Executive Vice-President of the Social Sciences, Economics and Humanities Cluster at UM6P and Dean of FGSES, welcomed the membership. “We are genuinely excited to be part of the community. We share the same vision with our fellow members within such a distinguished network,” he commented.

“We are also equally aware of the global challenges lying ahead. FGSES is keen to contribute knowledge, training, and expertise from the perspectives of Morocco, the African continent, and the broader New South.”

Michelle Reddy, Executive Director of APSIA, said the addition strengthens the network’s geographic and intellectual scope. “Diverse perspectives are essential for creating sustainable solutions to global issues,” she said.

“The University Mohammed VI Polytechnic and the Faculty of Governance, Economics and Social Sciences will enrich our community with their crucial and unique perspective, given Morocco’s strategic location, at the crossroads of North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the rest of Africa,” Reddy continued. “We are honored to have them join us and look forward to having more schools from the Global South join our association.”

FGSES is part of UM6P’s Social Sciences, Economics, and Humanities cluster, which also includes the Africa Institute for Research in Economics and Social Sciences (AIRESS) and the Public Policy School (PPS), which offers executive training programs for public and private sector decision-makers. FGSES itself runs programs from the undergraduate to the doctoral level.

The APSIA membership follows a period of notable academic recognition for UM6P. The university ranked 14th in the Arab world and first in North Africa in the Times Higher Education Arab University Rankings 2026, advancing from 38th place in 2024.

It also placed between 351st and 400th globally in the THE 2026 World University Rankings, positioning it as the fourth-ranked university across Africa.

UM6P, established in 2013 and inaugurated by King Mohammed VI in 2017, operates campuses in Benguerir, Rabat, and Laayoune, with international hubs in Paris, Montreal, New York, and Cambridge. Between 2020 and 2025, the university produced over 6,600 indexed scientific publications, with 85% appearing in Q1 journals.