Friends, colleagues and associates of the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of Sifax Group, Barrister (Dr.) Taiwo Afolabi today offered prayers to mark the 53rd birthday of the business mogul.
Afolabi has been described as a humble professional maritime ‘logistician’ who has built Sifax Group into a business empire over a 25-year period.
The Group, which had a modest beginning as a clearing and forwarding agency, today operates a port terminal, off dock facility, an aviation handling company and a shipping firm.
“I was with a shipping outfit, where I rose to become a manager in shipping operation and ports management before travelling abroad to study Shipping Management. I returned to the same company as its head of operations some years later.
“But from when I was in the secondary school (Baptist Grammar School, Eleyele, Ibadan) I have always loved to do business on my own and have money to spend. Then, as a boy, I went with my friends to some vendors, who gave us some newspapers to sell and when we returned in the evening, they gave us some money. I have always had a passion for business,” Afolabi said recently of his foray into business.
“I don’t want people to see me prominently. I always like to be in my shell keeping to myself, I don’t go out the way others do. I don’t like going to parties, it’s a lifestyle, which I have chosen and I am conscious of.
“I believe if you are a businessman, it’s not right to be more popular than your company. Many people know my company, Sifax but they don’t know me because I don’t believe in showing myself. I believe that only empty barrels make the loudest noise,” he said.
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