Having just passed the symbolic milestone of 1,000 employees in Morocco, the engineering group Segula Technologies is opening a new page in its development in the Kingdom by inaugurating, this Wednesday, July 19, the Africa Innovation Hub, the African branch of its industrial innovation project accelerator.
The inauguration took place in the presence of Ryad Mezzour, Minister of Industry and Trade, with whom a strategic partnership agreement was signed on this occasion, underlines a press release from the group.
Launched in 2019 by Segula Technologies, this accelerator aims to support startups from the development of their innovation to the establishment on the industrial market. It also aims to support innovative industrial projects. Thanks to the solutions of the startups that have integrated the program, as well as Segula’s internal research projects, the Africa Innovation Hub will put in place the technological bricks that will allow them to considerably reduce their R&D times, it is specified.
According to Segula Technologies, the Africa Innovation Hub will have three objectives. The first step is to support the industrialization projects of Moroccan and African start-ups (development of a master plan, improvement of performance, transformation with a factory 4.0 approach). It is then a question of positioning oneself on collaborative and/or open innovation projects, carried out by Moroccan and African industrialists or research laboratories. Finally, the hub aims to develop R&D projects, particularly in the field of ecological and energy transformation.
In addition, the technological priorities of the Africa Innovation Hub concern electromobility, the reliability of the green hydrogen sector, the decarbonization of industrial activities and the development of medical devices.
Commenting on this inauguration, Ryad Mezzour underlined that “the industrial dynamics that our country is experiencing requires rigorous technical and scientific support in order to further stimulate innovation and R&D in this sector. It is a major lever for the creation of added value, the development of local integration, the consolidation of the competitiveness of the productive sector and the improvement of the technological level of Morocco”.
And to add: “The commitment of a leading group like Segula in the engineering sector is essential and is in line with our quest to position Morocco as a center of excellence in terms of industrial innovation in Africa. It will also make it possible to support the industrialization of the continent and will strongly contribute to the development of skills and the development of research projects for cutting-edge innovative and technologically demanding activities”.
“The choice of Morocco came naturally. The strategy for the development of industrial ecosystems led by the Kingdom is extremely effective and has enabled the emergence of a pool of very high-level scientific and technical skills,” commented Adrien Guillemin, director of strategy and innovation at Segula Technologies.
As a reminder, Segula has been established for more than 20 years in Morocco, where it supports major players in the automotive industry (Stellantis, Renault, Alstom) and aerospace (Airbus, Bombardier, Collins, Dassault Aviation, Safran, Ariane Group) thanks to a thousand employees spread over different sites. Through its design offices located in Agadir, Casablanca and Tangier, Segula Technologies Morocco provides engineering services for the design, development and industrialization of automotive and aeronautical assemblies and sub-assemblies. In 2019, Segula was the first engineering group to open a center of excellence dedicated to automotive engineering professions in Agadir.
