David Apaflo: Integrity-Driven CEO Building a Multinational Professional Services Firm with Tech and Talent
In Nigeria's professional services sector, scale has historically been dominated by multinational corporations. However, David Apaflo is challenging this narrative by demonstrating that a locally founded firm can not only compete at an international level but also export its expertise globally. As the Chief Executive of Shelze Professional Services, now in its 15th year, Apaflo is aggressively expanding into business process outsourcing, aiming to establish Nigeria as a premier hub for accounting and finance services in global markets.
The Outsourcing Thesis: A New Vision for Nigeria
For decades, global outsourcing in accounting and finance has been largely concentrated in countries like India and the Philippines. Nigeria possesses significant advantages, including a large English-speaking population, deep familiarity with International Financial Reporting Standards, and a growing number of globally certified professionals. However, infrastructure gaps and a lack of institutional trust have hindered its potential. Apaflo believes these constraints are now shifting, thanks to strategic initiatives like the Itana Digital Free Trade Zone.
Located in Alaro City along the Lekki Free Zone corridor in Lagos, Itana is Africa's first fully digital special economic zone. It offers corporate income tax exemptions, multi-currency banking, duty-free imports, and 24/7 power infrastructure under the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority framework. This controlled environment is designed to overcome previous limitations and facilitate globally integrated service delivery.
Shelze's business process outsourcing model is not a traditional approach. It integrates technology-augmented professional services, pairing qualified Nigerian accountants with AI-powered workflows. This enables the delivery of audit-ready management accounts, multi-jurisdiction tax compliance, and IFRS reporting packages that meet the expectations of clients in Europe and North America. The model aims to offer a competitive price point and speed that neither pure AI tools nor conventional offshore BPO operations can match.
"The future of outsourcing is not cheap labour," Apaflo asserts. "It is skilled professionals, amplified by technology, delivering judgment-intensive work that software alone cannot replicate." This transition requires substantial upfront investment in technology, training, and process discipline, often before revenue materializes. While questions remain about Nigeria's ability to fully address infrastructure reliability and cross-border trust, initiatives like Itana are testing these assumptions, with Shelze positioned as a pioneer in proving the model's viability.
The Firm: Shelze Professional Services
Shelze was incorporated in December 2011, initially operating part-time while Apaflo worked in investment banking and wealth management at firms like Vetiva Capital Management and CardinalStone Partners. By 2013, the client base had grown sufficiently to demand full-time attention, leading Apaflo to transition fully to the firm. Today, Shelze serves a diverse range of sectors, including fintech, media, energy, and financial services.
Notable clients include global digital platforms such as TikTok, Fincra, and Risevest, as well as regulated financial institutions. The firm also holds significant public-sector mandates, working with entities like the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the National Identity Management Commission, and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.
Public Sector and Institutional Impact
Much of Shelze's work focuses on government revenue and institutional reform, areas critical to Nigeria's fiscal sustainability. The firm has played a direct role in national and sub-national government revenue generation, with engagements that have helped unlock over one hundred million dollars in tax revenue across various government levels.
At the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Shelze serves as Revenue Assurance and Growth Consultant, redesigning the Council's revenue model and building compliance infrastructure. This has contributed to one of the most significant revenue transformations at any Nigerian regulatory agency in recent years. Additionally, as Transaction Adviser to the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, Shelze supports Nigeria's Decade of Gas agenda through capital allocation and deal structuring.
The firm also assisted the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex Management Board in strategic vision articulation and implementation, contributing to the revival of the Nigeria International Trade Fair after years of hiatus. Furthermore, Shelze serves as anchor trainer for the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, delivering data analytics training to staff, including bank examiners. These engagements represent institutional interventions that require technical capability, trust, and patience for implementation.
The Person: David Apaflo's Background and Philosophy
David Apaflo's career in accounting has been marked by rapid progression. Born in 1989, he completed his ICAN qualifying examinations at nineteen, graduated with a First-Class degree in Accounting from the University of Lagos in 2011, earned an MBA from the Lagos Business School at Pan-Atlantic University, and became a Fellow of ICAN by twenty-eight. He holds additional Fellowships from the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and the Institute of Management Consultants, and serves as Deputy Vice Chairman of the CITN Lagos and District Society.
His intellectual contributions include the Profit Color Index, an analytical framework published on SSRN that classifies corporate profitability using a colour-coded system to help assess earnings quality and sustainability. This reflects his instinct for translating complex financial concepts into practical tools. Apaflo has spoken at events like TEDx University of Lagos and various fora on leadership and motivation. He is an alumnus of King's College, Lagos, where he advocated for co-opetition as a model for collective success.
Apaflo's leadership philosophy is grounded in the belief that "God is the source; every other person is a resource," emphasizing accountability and stewardship. For nearly a decade, he has volunteered as a facilitator at the FATE Foundation, mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs. He has also served on multiple committees of ICAN and CITN, championing reforms to benefit smaller professional services firms.
Through the Greenstreet Foundation, which he established, Apaflo focuses on education and youth development. Initiatives include the ICAN Spur Programme, which provides full tuition, examination fees, stipends, and mentorship to financially disadvantaged students pursuing chartered accountancy. Other programmes support teachers, repurpose church facilities for schools, offer scholarships, develop curricula, and provide clean water to underserved communities.
Apaflo credits mentors like Yemi Sanni, Dele Ogunlowo, Abiodun Sanusi, Ola Olabinjo, and his father, Nelson Apaflo, as foundational influences, along with his mother's unwavering support. "I have been blessed to learn from people who saw my potential before I fully understood it myself," he reflects. "That is why giving back through mentorship and education is not optional for me — it is an obligation."
What Comes Next: Future Plans and Challenges
The roadmap for Shelze is clear: establish a scalable operations centre within the Itana zone, develop technology platforms for cross-border service delivery, and build a pipeline of trained finance and accounting professionals ready to serve international clients. Success could significantly expand Nigeria's role in global professional services, while failure might see the ambition join others that struggled to scale beyond the domestic market.
For Apaflo, this distinction is less theoretical and more operational, with the work already underway to transform Nigeria's outsourcing landscape.
