L’écosystème de l’entrepreneuriat féminin au Maroc: le cas de la région Marrakech-Safi

Abstract

Several debates question the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems, placing gender at the center of the functioning of these networks and emphasizing the particularities of female integration in the entrepreneurial sphere. This study focuses on the birth of another form of entrepreneurship, considered prosperous and providing Moroccan women with a platform for innovation and personal income. This research is based on a theoretical corpus of the approach by the entrepreneurial ecosystem and mobilizing its evolution in time, space and gender, while focusing on the birth of another form of entrepreneurship, considered prosperous and providing Moroccan women with a platform for innovation and personal income. The main purpose of our research is to study the impact of women’s entrepreneurship on the economic fabric, highlighting the tourism situation in the region of Marrakech-Safi. Following a literature review focusing on the concepts of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystem, we were able to explore different paths of female entrepreneurs in the Marrakech-Safi region, by adopting a methodology based on a qualitative study through 14 semi-directional interviews, addressed to women of the region, business leaders and operating at the level of tourism and economic activity for the last three decades. We were able to draw a unique and up-to-date portrait of the region’s current context, advantages and challenges, as well as the entrepreneurial cultural characteristics of the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem. The main results of this research have thus made it possible to highlight the portrait of female entrepreneurs, perceptions of current institutional, cultural and societal arrangements and the recommended avenues for improvement.

Keywords: women, entrepreneurship, tourism, gender, business ecosystem

JEL Classification : M21, O30

Paper type: Empirical research