New African restaurant and night club opening this weekend

FARGO - Africa International Restaurant & Night Club is opening Saturday, Aug. 24 in the former JT Cigarro building at 4554 Seventh Ave S. in Fargo.

The opening comes on the heels of controversy within the city of Fargo. The city’s Liquor Control Board, city auditor and police recommended commissioners deny it a liquor license, due to concerns with the criminal histories of the original applicants and the credit history of a later applicant.

However, city commissioners voted unanimously to grant the license on July 29.

Now, after about six months of remodeling, Africa International Restaurant & Night Club is opening its doors for entertainment only this Saturday and Sunday. Monday, August 26, it will begin regular business hours. The restaurant will be open from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., with music starting afterwards until 2 a.m.

Co-owner Francis Brown has been living in the United States for nearly 20 years as a refugee from Liberia. He escaped the civil war there before starting a restaurant in Philadelphia. He owned and operated the restaurant for nine years but says he found a lot of his customers were moving to North Dakota.

“I kept asking, where are my customers going?” Brown said. “They were moving to North Dakota because of the job situation here. I noticed my business was going down, so I came here in 2014 to assess the area. I moved and then established my business.”

He opened up the Liberian Merry Go Round restaurant along 45th Street South in Fargo in 2014. That’s where he met co-owner and partner, Corey Schultz.

Schultz was born and raised in Fargo; in the early 2000’s he took a trip to Africa in search of something that sounds quite simple.

“One day I went out, I wanted to find the best soap in the world,” Schultz explained. “I had a great soap that ran out, and I couldn’t find it anymore.

So, with advice from a friend, he made the journey to Africa in search of the pure, organic ingredients.

“I took a 27-hour bus ride, which should have been 12 and went to the northern areas in search of the yellow Shea.”

He found it, with the help from the people in the northern tribes near the city of Tamale, Ghana.

After forming a close relationship with the people in Ghana, Schultz began to work with them, creating pure, organic African black soap, Shea butter, migraine rubs, and a whole variety of skin care products.

“It’s a pure product, dates back several thousand years," Schultz said. "The soap is the oldest in the world. It’s pure, organic. It’s made without lye. Other soap is made with lye.”

He then brought those products back to Ashley, N.D, with the start of his business, Legends of Africa .

Through that business, he was able to help fund the remodel and start of Africa International.

It was on a trip to Ghana where Schultz met his wife, NanaYaa, who happens to be one of the biggest singers from the African country. Nanayaa Manye 1 was even nominated for Ghana’s Best Female Vocalist for her work.

"My first trip there, I was out and got invited to a big concert, it was a band called Osibisa,” Schultz explained. “I was all excited afterwards, and went up to get her autograph.”

NanaYaa remembers the moment he walked up, wearing a bright yellow tie dyed shirt.

“His chest is all puffed up, he walks toward the stage, asks for my autograph and everything and asks, 'So, what would it take to marry you?'” She laughed, “Pretty straightforward. Seven years down the line, here we are."

Beyond being one of the main entertainers for Africa International, NanaYaa will also be cooking up some of her best Ghanaian dishes for customers.

"I'm really excited, I love cooking,” NanaYaa said. “I'm looking forward to, you know, the spicy. It's gonna be spicy, it's gonna be yummy, juicy, delicious!”

As time goes on, African International plans on offering even more dishes from countries in Africa. Starting Monday, August 26, they plan on offering Liberian, Ghanaian, Nigerian and East African.

The food and music plan to bring a taste to Fargo that’s a staple from more than 6,000 miles away.