Benin’s higher education sector has reached a significant milestone. On September 15, 2026, the Sèmè City Institute of Technology (SCITI) and the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA) signed a strategic partnership agreement to launch a Master’s program in Design Engineering with a specialization in Sustainable Engineering.
A pioneering step for SCITI
This new curriculum marks the very first Master’s-level program offered by SCITI, the engineering school integrated into the national innovation hub Sèmè City. The result of cooperation between the Beninese government and the French university, the track leads to an international degree aimed at training a new generation of technical executives on home soil.
Focus on the entire lifecycle
The program covers the full lifecycle of products and infrastructure. Students will learn to incorporate environmental, economic, and performance criteria right from the theoretical modeling phase.
Training designers, not just executors
This initiative is part of Benin’s economic and industrial transformation policy. While the sub-region has long relied on importing technology and external expertise for its major projects, the government aims to equip the country with engineers capable of building solutions tailored to local realities.
The stated goal is to strengthen the human capital needed to support the development of the country’s industrial zones, such as the Glo-Djigbé Special Economic Zone (GDIZ), and to anchor Benin among West Africa’s technology innovation hubs.
