Fuelled by conceptual and computational advances in network science and the growing popularity of social media, formal approaches that map and model social structure – known as Social Network Analysis or SNA – have spread across academic disciplines. Thus far, however, the vast majority of these studies have been conducted in North America and Western Europe. In the rest of the world, where relational issues are just as important, the use of SNA to understand social structures is in its early stages. In Africa, especially, very little is known of the ties that bind individuals, groups and organizations, how they serve as channels for flows of material and information flows, and how they influence social, economic and political outcomes. The objective of this note is to contribute to filling this gap, by showing how a more formal approach to social networks can inform current development policies in Sub-Saharan Africa. After reviewing some of the studies conducted in Africa, we discuss how SNA can be used as a policy and empowerment tool by development and humanitarian organizations. Focusing on West Africa, we are particularly interested in the application of SNA to the fields of food security, market analysis and gender, three policy areas that, despite being fundamentally relational by nature, have received little attention from network science so far. The note shows that a better understanding of social structure can shed light on hidden constraints that ultimately influence social capital, integration and resilience and thus ideally complement existing approaches that focus on the attributes of the social actors instead of their relationships.
