Description
The African Development Center started in 2004 as the first community development corporation in the US dedicated solely to helping African immigrants and refugees attain economic self-sufficiency.
The overall objective of ADC is to help the African immigrant and refugee community to participate effectively in the market economy. ADC is not a social service agency but rather a vehicle for social entrepreneurship. Its work is to guide and facilitate the financial success of African refugees and immigrants who come to Minnesota. An integrated strategy is employed to help this community enter the financial mainstream on a number of levels, building both personal and community wealth. With successful economic integration and businesses, African immigrants are becoming important catalysts for growth and renewal in some of Minnesota’s most challenged neighborhoods.
ADC is now the prime entity in Minnesota for helping Africans meet their business, home ownership, and financial literacy education goals; reaching 95% of this large and growing population of more than 180,000 throughout the entire state. Approximately half of our clients are refugees from the nations of: Burundi, Cameroon, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zaire ‐‐ 80% of which have been in the U.S. less than 5 years.
