DAWN Commission has partnered with the Egbe Omo Yoruba North America (EOYNA) and its investment arm, Synergy, to build a structured channel through which diaspora Yoruba can invest in Nigeria without the trust problems that have long discouraged them.
The partnership will direct diaspora capital into three areas: real estate, Nigerian government bonds, and loans to ventures seeking growth capital. Synergy, founded by EOYNA five years ago as its investment operating arm, will manage the funds under a board structure designed to guarantee that money is used exactly as instructed by the investor.
“Many of us try to do personal investments, and many times the money doesn’t go to where it is expected,” said Professor Adeboye Adejare, EOYNA’s representative and vice chair of the Synergy board. “This partnership gives us confidence knowing our money is being well managed. We all know there are risks. But it is a risk that is professionally managed.”
Beyond capital, Synergy plans to pair investments with mentorship from board members across relevant industries. Adejare, a 30-year EOYNA member and former president of its Philadelphia chapter, said the board includes expertise the fund’s young beneficiaries can draw on directly.
For young entrepreneurs in the region, the appeal for this fund is access. Nigerian banks routinely charge interest rates above 30 percent on small business loans, a rate Dr. Seye Oyeleye, Director General of the DAWN Commission, said leaves no room to plan.
Oyeleye said the partnership also answers a complaint he hears directly from Yoruba abroad: that money sent home for development gets diverted into social spending with no lasting impact.
“There’s no point in me working 14 hours a day in snow in Winnipeg or snow in Washington and sending money that someone then spends on Owambe. They want an organization that ensures whatever they send down actually has an impact,” Oyeleye said.
He said the offer to help has never been the problem. Every time he travels abroad, Yoruba professionals tell him they want to contribute to the region. What has been missing is a structure to direct that goodwill toward the people positioned to use it.
Segun Balogun, Project Lead at the DAWN Commission, said the initiative is meant to serve as a proof of concept for diaspora investment across Yorubaland.
“We want to create a trust layer, an institution they can trust, through which they can channel their investment back home and sleep with two eyes closed,” Balogun said.
DAWN Commission project team includes Tolu Fadoju, Dunsin Olorunfemi, and Kehinde Adebayo.