African Development Center

In these challenging times, it’s good to be reminded of the good works being supported by our ULI MN members. This is part of a continuing series; let us know about your stories.

In just five years, the African Development Center (ADC), founded in 2004 by ULI MN Executive Committee member Hussein Samatar, has made a profound impact on the state of Minnesota and the communities it serves.

ADC’s mission is to start and sustain successful businesses, build assets and promote community reinvestment within the African communities of Minnesota.
There are more than 100,000 African immigrants and refugees in Minnesota, representing 13% of Minnesota’s foreign born residents—a higher percentage than any other state, according to a Minneapolis Foundation report. Many of these new arrivals struggle with cultural, religious, language, and financial barriers and Samatar, who moved to Minnesota from Somalia in 1993 during that country’s civil strife, faced many of the same challenges.

Samatar writes, “My own story is living the American dream. Having been displaced at the tender age of 21, I’ve never given up hope, and I’ve found hope here in
Minnesota. Trained as a banker, I left my secure job to start the African Development Center, which has become one of the leading community development
organizations of the state.”

ADC’s staff of seven African immigrants (who together can speak eight different languages) provide the following services to clients: Financial literacy training, first time home buyer education, technical assistance and financing for small businesses, mortgage and commercial loan products with conventional and Islamic terms (i.e. Islamic law prohibits charging interest, so new models have been developed to provide a return on investment, while allowing borrowers to stay true to their faith.).

At the October opening of ADC’s new service center on the former North Country Coop site in the West Bank, Samatar reported that since 2004, ADC has trained
more than 350 businesses, providing financing to approximately half of them; more than 1,000 families have received home ownership training; and 350 families have had financial literacy counseling. ADC was also a founding partner of the catalytic Midtown Global Market project in Minneapolis.

ADC’s success has not gone unnoticed. For the past two years the City of Minneapolis has ranked ADC the number one small business lender and Samatar
was recognized as a top corporate executive at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s 2009 Minority Business Awards.

READ FROM THE PUBLISHER
Fall 2009 Newsletter – Urban Land Institute Minnesota