Dr. Afolabi, Jacob Ade obtained his B.Sc. degree in Economics from University of Ibadan, Nigeria with UAC Prize as well as Economics Department Prize as all-round best Economics Graduate in 1980. He obtained his Masters and Doctorate degrees from Manchester university, United Kingdom, in 1983 and 1985, respectively.
He started his working career as a Graduate Assistant with the University of Ilorin in 1981 and later as a Lecturer with the same institution in 1986. Dr. Afolabi joined the services of the National Centre for Economic Management and Administration, Ibadan, Nigeria in 1988 as the Head of its Training and Consultancy Department. He later joined the services of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) in 1994 as a Senior Manager in the Corporation’s Research Department and rose to the rank of Director in the same Department in January 2010, the position he held until he retired in April 2016.
As a researcher and administrator of repute, his deep analytical prowess and sound management capability took no long to notice. Apart from many policy papers prepared by him, Dr. Afolabi was Chairman of the CBN/NDIC Joint Technical Committee on Supervision till 2008, Chairman, NDIC Public Awareness Committee 2004 – 2016; and Member Committee on the Development of the Framework for Differential Premium Assessment System, 2007. He was also the Chairman of the Committee on Introduction of Deposit Insurance Courses to Universities and the Chairman of the NDIC Committee on the establishment of Pass-through Deposit Insurance for the subscribers of Mobile Money Operators (MMOs). He also served as the Chairman, Central Disciplinary Committee and Chairman, Strategic Plan Committee of the NDIC, 2010 – 2016.
At the international level, Dr. Afolabi was a pioneer member of the Research and Guidance Committee (RGC) of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI). The IADI was established in May 2002 with its registered office at the bank for International Settlement in Basel, Switzerland. Its mission is to contribute to the enhancement of deposit insurance effectiveness by promoting guidance and international cooperation through research, information sharing and training. Dr. Afolabi participated actively in the Research projects of the Association. He chaired the RGC’s Sub-Committee that worked on Deposit Insurance Coverage and he monitored developments on same. He served as a member of the Assessment Team for the Assessment of NDIC and Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) compliance wirh Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance Systems. Dr. Afolabi was a member of the IADI Steering Committee on the Review of IADI Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance Systems, internationally.
Dr. Afolabi, who is currently a fculty member in Goshen International Business School and Chairman M & P Micro-Credit Scheme, is widely travelled and has presented professional papers on deposit insurance issues at many fora. he has equally written so many articles that have been published in numerous internationally reputable journals in the field of Economics in general and in deposit insurance issues in particular.