Somali Women Entrepreneurs

A WOSU story written in June 2016 by Esther Honig highlights the strong entrepreneurial role of Somali women at the Banadir Mall on Cleveland Avenue. The piece is entitled "At North Columbus Mall, Somali Women Run the Show.

These are excerpts; see the full story at radio.wosu.org.

The Banadir Mall on Cleveland Avenue is a small, two-story stucco building. Outside it looks like your typical strip-mall. Inside the space is packed with dozens of tiny stores. Narrow aisles weave around to a Halal grocer, an office for immigration services, and a couple barber shops. But the overwhelming majority of stores here are selling clothes, the traditional hijabs and long abaya dresses.

And they’re all owned and operated by women.

One of those business owners at Banadir is Fadumo Ahmed. (...) Ahmed said she opened her store 15 years ago to support herself and her kids. When she lived in Somalia, her husband ran the business, but in the US she’s in charge. 

“Owning a business] is honorable,” said Ahmed. “I contribute to American society.” Ahmed said many women like her choose to run a business for the independence; they’d rather work for themselves than take orders from someone else.

Hassan Omar directs the Somali Community Association of Ohio, which helps members of Columbus' Somali community. He says this is relatively new trend in Somali culture.

“Honestly the women become real leaders in Somali community, not just here but during the civil war,” said Omar.

Omar says that when the Somali civil war broke out in the early 90s, most of the men took up arms while women started running their households. That’s led to their increased leadership and visibility within the community...

There are thousands of Columbus businesses run by Somalis—including ... six Somali-focused malls in the city.

Najma Mohamed, 22, and her Kowsar Abdille, 19, are opening a new store (at the Banadir Mall). They’ve just converted a dusty storage space into a modern storefront. The walls are freshly painted and floors have been refinished... 

​Both girls are in college. Najma says she wants to be a Senator and Kowsar a teacher. But for now, they've saved money from working part-time jobs to start a business as Henna artists.

Najma Mohamed and Kowsar Abdille, store owners at Banadir Mall. CREDIT ESTHER HONIG / WOSU

​Please read the full WOSU story by Esther Honig at radio.wosu.org.