Afolabi has over two and a half decades’ of premium corporate/commercial law and business consulting experience, in leading Nigerian and multinational professional services firms: Olaniwun Ajayi LP (Associate, 1995 – 1997), Andersen/KPMG Professional Services (Snr. Consultant – Snr. Manager, 1998 – 2006) and Templars (Partner, 2007 – 2013). He has variously worked as team member, manager or leader of engagement teams for global market leaders, blue chip Nigerian corporates and HNIs, the public sector and international agencies on diverse transactions, including big ticket, market defining, cross-border deals.

Prior to LeLaw, he was General Counsel (2013 – 2014), and later, Consultant/Senior Advisor (2014- 2015, a part-time role) at African Capital Alliance (ACA), Nigeria’s foremost private equity (PE) firm focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the Gulf of Guinea. As leader of ACA’s legal function, he was heavily involved in the whole gamut of legal regulatory support services and collaboration with stakeholders across the PE value chain in furtherance of the firm’s business objectives.

His 8 year experience at Andersen/KPMG’s Tax & Regulatory Services practice included offshore secondment to Dundas & Wilson (Scottish member firm of defunct Andersen Legal) working with their Infrastructure Group for diverse clients. Over his career, he was involved with several strategy papers, making legal regulatory input to business plans for clients and employers. In 2004, he was charged with leading KPMG’s Executive Selection and Training (EST) Group, during which he led several training and recruitment engagements for blue chip clients and championed a six-month transformation plan that culminated in the recruitment of substantive Group Head.

He obtained his two Second Class Upper Honours degrees from Obafemi Awolowo University (B.A. (Ed.) (1987); LLB (1994)), and was called to the Nigerian Bar in March 1995 after obtaining Second Class Upper Honours at the Bar Finals. He also attended University of Lagos (LLM Corporate/Commercial Law, 1997); and Harvard Law School (LLM International Finance, 2007). Prior to commencing his legal education and legal career, Afolabi was a Secondary School teacher in Bauchi and Ondo States between 1987 and 1990.

Some of Afolabi’s early seminal articles include ‘Implications of Judicial Attitudes to Interpretation of Consent Provisions of the Land Use Act for Secured Credit Transactions’ [1997] 12 ICCLR 43; ‘The Investment & Securities Act of 1999: An Overview of Anti-Trust Considerations in the Regulation of Mergers in Nigeria, [2001] 6 JIFM 272; [2001] 9 ICCLR 230; (2001) 22 BLR 116’; ‘Investment Incentives for Electricity Business in Nigeria’, JERL 2004, 22(1), 94-100 (co-authored); The Legal and Regulatory Framework for the Nigerian Power Sector, (OGEL) 1 2004 (co-authored); and ‘Rethinking Deductibility of Interest on Affiliate Loans by Upstream Companies Under Nigeria’s Petroleum Profits Tax Act (PPTA)’ (co- co- authored) 1 TLJN (2012), pp. 15 -32.

An accomplished presenter, Afolabi regularly speaks or acts as resource person/pannelist at professional and academic fora locally and abroad; he has also attended several professional development programmes across four continents. Many of Afolabi’s tax regulatory related presentations are reference materials, such as those on Nigerian Free Trade Zone regime and Transfer Pricing.

Afolabi has been advising Boards on various legal regulatory business strategy matters, and has provided as well as lately been supervising the provision of company secretarial services to reputable multinationals and leading corporates. He is currently a director of two leading players in the insurance industry, since 2014 and 2016 respectively. He also consults for several Nigerian law firms on their business strategy as well as on complex fiscal issues, under LeLaw’s Legal Strategy Support Services.

Afolabi was a onetime competitive swimmer (age grade and collegiate), and loves to read strategy books/biographies of historical figures, listens to Christian music, watches soccer and loves counseling and travelling. Reflective of his passion for counselling and mentoring, Afolabi wrote two free manuals, ‘Yes You Can: Ten Steps To Scaling JAMB (UTME) At First Attempt’ and ‘The Pursuit of Excellence: Maximising Your University Experience’. These motivational cum study guides for Youths and Teens can be accessed and downloaded here and here respectively.