Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, the Group Chairman of SIFAX Group, is a seasoned businessman and investor with diverse interests in various sectors of the economy.
Dr. Afolabi is a living testimony to the fact that hard work, foresight and determination remain the bedrock of success. An entrepreneur in his early twenties, he has within three decades successfully built the SIFAX Group brand from a small freight forwarding firm to a group of companies with investments in Maritime, Aviation, Haulage & Logistics, Oil & Gas, Financial Services and Hospitality, among others.
Among the companies under the SIFAX Group conglomerate today include Port & Cargo Handling Services Limited, Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc, SIFAX Logistics Limited, SIFAX Off Dock Limited, SIFAX Nigeria Limited, Ocean & Cargo Services Limited, Sky Capital and Allied Financial Service Limited, SIFAX Inland Container Terminal Limited, SIFAX Oil & Gas Limited and Mac Folly Hospitality Limited.
Dr Afolabi’s massive investments in Nigeria’s terminal operations, especially its off-dock solutions, have positively affected the industry and catalyzed economic growth, even as his consistency in developing innovative business models and nuturing same to global acclaim has made him a leader in entrepreneurial endeavour.
An alumnus of the University of Lagos where he graduated with an LL.B. degree and Masters in International Law, he began his professional career with Nigerian Express Agencies Limited in 1981, until 1988 when he left to establish SIFAX Group.
He is a Fellow of various professional institutes, amongst which are: Nigerian Institute of Financial Management (FIFM), Nigerian Institute of Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (FIFF), Certified Institute of Shipping (CIS), Nigerian Institute of Shipping (NIS), Port & Terminal Management Academy of Nigeria (of which he is also the Chairman), Certified Board of Administrators of Nigeria (CBAN), Institute of Directors, Nigerian Society of Maritime Researchers and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Nigeria.
He is a recipient of different honorary doctorate degrees from various universities in Nigeria and abroad, including Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, European-American University, Dominica Republic and Commonwealth University, Belize.
Dr. Taiwo Afolabi is the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Djibouti in Nigeria as well as the recipient of Nigeria’s national honour – Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), conferred on him in recognition of his outstanding virtues and meritorious services to his country.
His most recent award is the 2021 Vanguard Newspaper Business Man of the Year for the multi-billion naira investment undertaken by him during the COVID-19 pandemic year where he launched the Lagos Marriott Hotel as well as the private jetty.
