Friday September 11, 2026 will remain a pivotal date for relations between Ivorian higher education and the energy industry. Indeed, Dr Moussa Diaby and Hermann K. Adoueni have signed an agreement intended to structure, over 3 years, a collaboration which already existed in fact between the National Polytechnic Institute Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB) and the Société de Stockage Pétrolier de Côte d'Ivoire (SPCI), a key operator of national oil storage through its Vridi depots, which ensure a significant part of the market supply Ivory Coast in petroleum products. The objective stated by the two signatories is straightforward, that of abolishing the barriers which too often separate the academic world from the realities of the industrial field.In the oil sector, where safety standards, logistics and technical constraints are evolving rapidly, this proximity between the school and the company becomes a strategic issue for the quality of engineering training. Concretely, the agreement paves the way for welcoming students and engineering students from INP-HB within SPCI, whether for academic internships, professional immersions or end-of-study projects. The company's technical executives and specialists are committed to directly supervising these young talents, offering them privileged access to the operational realities of oil storage and logistics.

The partnership also provides for regular interventions by SPCI professionals during conferences, defense juries or professional days organized by the institute. A presence which should allow students to compare their theoretical knowledge with the concrete requirements of the sector, while enriching the courses with examples taken from the field. Another significant aspect of this agreement is the joint development of applied study projects and research work focused on the industrial challenges specific to the storage and logistics of hydrocarbons. An orientation which could, ultimately, fuel technical innovation in a sector subject to growing requirements for safety and efficiency.For the INP-HB, a regional reference in the training of engineers and senior technicians under the direction of Dr Diaby since 2021, this agreement consolidates an already initiated strategy of increasing partnerships with the country's economic players, in the continuity of similar agreements recently signed with other institutions and companies.

Thus by giving a formal framework to their relationship, INP-HB and SPCI lay the foundations for cooperation designed to produce engineers better prepared for the realities of the Ivorian energy sector.