Rabat – Rabat Business School (RBS), part of the International University of Rabat (UIR), celebrated its achievement of the prestigious Triple Crown accreditation on Friday at the Marriott Rabat Hotel, marking a significant milestone for Moroccan higher education.
The ceremony brought together university officials, professors, and academic staff to celebrate the school’s international recognition, alongside its historic entry into the top 10 of the Financial Times 2026 Masters in Management ranking.
With accreditations from AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA, RBS has become the first business school in Morocco and Francophone Africa, and the fifth in Africa, to achieve the Triple Crown, a distinction held by fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide.
A long-term vision for international recognition
Speaking to Morocco World News (MWN), Noureddine Mouaddib, Founding President of the International University of Rabat (UIR), said the achievements are the result of a strategy launched in 2014 to strengthen the institution’s global competitiveness.
“To differentiate ourselves and enter international competition, we needed to reach this level of accreditation and ranking,” Mouaddib said.
He celebrated RBS’s tenth-place finish in the Financial Times Masters in Management ranking, describing the school as part of the “super Champions League” of international business education.
During his speech, Mouaddib recalled his vision from 2009 of attracting international students to Morocco.
“There will not only be a flow from South to North; there will also be a flow from North to South,” he said.
He noted that this ambition was already taking shape, with more than 60 French students pursuing degrees at UIR.
Mouaddib also discussed the potential of the global education market, citing approximately seven million international students worldwide, including 600,000 Africans.
“There is an opportunity to seize, and this is what we call the knowledge economy,” he said, stressing Morocco’s potential to become a leading destination for international students.
‘A moment of history’ for RBS
Nicolas Arnaud, Dean and Director General of Rabat Business School, described the Triple Crown accreditation as a defining achievement for the institution and African higher education.
“Today is a big day. It’s actually a moment of history,” Arnaud told MWN on the sidelines of the event.
He stressed that the distinction allows Moroccan and African students to access internationally recognized business education without necessarily leaving the continent.
Arnaud said the achievement is particularly significant because fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide hold all three accreditations.
He also pointed to another milestone reached in September, when RBS became the first African institution to enter the top 10 of a Financial Times business school ranking, securing tenth place in the 2026 Masters in Management list.
“We have two good reasons to be very proud, two good reasons to be very honored and happy about these achievements,” he explained.
However, Arnaud stressed that the school must continue working to maintain its international standing.
“We keep working and we’ll make sure that this achievement will be sustained in the long term,” he added.
Years of collective effort
The Triple Crown followed a series of accreditation milestones for Rabat Business School, beginning with AACSB in 2020, followed by EQUIS in 2025 and AMBA in 2026.
The latest accreditation, awarded for the school’s Executive MBA program, completed the three internationally recognized distinctions.
Speaking to MWN, Ikram Eskri, Manager of International Accreditations at RBS, stressed the years of work required to achieve this recognition.
“It has been a challenging journey and the result of several years of hard work and the collaborative commitment of the entire RBS community,” Eskri said.
She stressed that securing the Triple Crown was not the end of the institution’s ambitions.
“We are continuously working to maintain these accreditations and to pursue new ones,” she said.
Eskri added that the school’s objective is to strengthen its international recognition and position itself among Africa’s leading business schools.
Research excellence gains recognition
The ceremony also provided an opportunity to recognize achievements in academic research.
Speaking to MWN, Khaled Mokni, Associate Professor of Finance and Quantitative Methods at Rabat Business School, welcomed his inclusion among the world’s top 2% of scientists in the 2026 Stanford–Elsevier research ranking.
“Being ranked among the world’s top 2% of scientists is a great honor and a moment of pride for me,” Mokni maintained.
He said, however, that the value of scientific research goes beyond rankings and academic publications.
“I believe that research is not only ranking and publication,” he explained, stressing the importance of sharing knowledge and contributing positively to society.
Mokni also thanked his colleagues, co-authors, students, and university officials for their support, noting that research depends on encouragement and collaboration rather than individual efforts alone.
He expressed hope that the recognition would inspire students and young researchers to believe in their potential and pursue ambitious academic goals.
Strengthening Morocco’s global academic presence
RBS’s achievements reflect its steady rise in international management education.
The institution climbed from 32nd place in the Financial Times Masters in Management ranking in 2024 to 20th in 2025, before reaching tenth place in 2026.
The ceremony shows the institution’s efforts to combine international accreditation, academic research, and global partnerships as part of its development strategy.
With the Triple Crown now secured and a place among the world’s top 10 Masters in Management programs, RBS faces the challenge of sustaining these achievements while expanding opportunities for students, researchers, and graduates.
