Informal Networks and Financing Diversification Among Women Entrepreneurs in Morocco: A Social Network Analysis

This article draws on Social Network Analysis (SNA) and qualitative inquiry to examine how informal networks shape women entrepreneurs’ access to finance in Morocco. Building on social network theory and social resources theory, the study examines how the structure and nature of personal relationships shape the diversification of financing among women entrepreneurs. An empirical study involving 42 women entrepreneurs was conducted using qualitative interviews and SNA. The findings show that tie strength alone cannot fully explain financing outcomes: although family members and friendship ties both involve trust and emotional closeness, they generate different financing opportunities depending on their structural position and degree of social overlap. Family ties primarily provide accessible but relatively redundant financial resources, whereas friendship ties facilitate access to more diversified financing opportunities by connecting women entrepreneurs to broader social and professional spheres. The study further demonstrates how SNA helps identify structural mechanisms such as cohesion, redundancy, and brokerage within informal financing networks. These findings extend social network theory by showing that financing diversification among women entrepreneurs depends not only on tie strength but also on the structural configuration of informal relationships.