Dr. Taiwo Afolabi’s 60th: Life Has Been Kind To Me, I Am Grateful To God

Executive Vice Chairman of Sifax Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, in this interview spoke on his life and business as he turns 60 years.

 

Tell us about yourself?

I am Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, the founder and Group Executive Vice Chairman of SIFAX Group. Obviously, I am an entrepreneur, business leader, mentor and many more. I am an indigene of Ogun State and by the grace of God, I am 60 years old. I was born in Ondo on April 29, 1962. As my first name indicates, I am a twin, I have a twin brother. I had my primary school at Ondo and my secondary school education at Baptist Grammar School, Ibadan. I hold a Law degree from the University of Lagos as well as Masters in International Law and Diplomacy from the same university.

 

I have been running my business for over 33 years now. I actually launched my company in 1988 as a freight forwarding firm in Lagos, Nigeria, after working with an uncle, under whom I learnt the rudiments of the clearing and forwarding business.

 

From the little beginning in 1988, SIFAX Group has grown to become one of the leading indigenous corporations in Nigeria with thousands of jobs created, both direct and indirect. We have also spread our tentacles to other African countries as well as Europe and America.

Our core business focus is integrated logistics, but over the years, we have diversified to other areas including financial services, oil and gas and hospitality.

 

Aside from running my business, another thing I am passionate about is societal impact. As an organization and in my individual capacity, we support causes and individuals who are not privileged in society. Our key intervention areas are education, health and youth and women empowerment. We have a foundation which is devoted to implementing our beliefs in this regard.

 

I have also been privileged to be a recipient of national honour in Nigeria, a Member of the Order of Niger (MON) while I am also the Honorary Consul General of Djibouti in Nigeria.

I am a family man. I am married to a beautiful and supportive woman, Mrs. Folashade Afolabi, and blessed with children, who are all doing well in their different endeavours.

 

How do you feel turning 60?

 

Let me start by expressing my appreciation to God Almighty who has remained my source and inspiration over the years. He has not only kept me alive but has also granted me grace, meets all my needs, and grants me good health, peace of mind and a great family. I am indeed a grateful man as I turn 60.

 

I am sure some of my peers have died and so many are not as privileged as I am. These and many more give me unending joy because of the grace. I am probably not the smartest, but God’s grace has found me and beautified my life.

 

So, as I turn 60, I am grateful to God. I am happy that life has been kind to me. I am grateful for the modest impact God has accomplished through me. I am grateful for a wonderful family and I am grateful for a greater future.

 

You started your career with your uncle and later left to float your own business. What was the motivation for this?

 

Well from a tender age, I have always been entrepreneurial in my thinking. My mother was a trader and through her, I learnt the rudiments of trading and that passion has stayed with me ever since.

 

So starting my business was a natural progression for me after spending some years learning the ropes from my uncle who owned a clearing and forwarding business in Lagos. I rose up to become the Operations Manager in the company. By this time, I was well grounded and ready to take on the next challenge.

 

Apart from expressing my passion, I also set up the business to take advantage of emerging opportunities and to provide a platform for others to fulfil their dreams through job and wealth creation. Today, our companies employ about 5,000 staff and you know the implication of such a number of employees, especially the ripple effect on their immediate and extended families as well as the society. If you also throw in the number of businesses, both large and small, that do business with our various companies, you will see how far we have come in impacting society. Those are some of the things that motivated me to start my business then.

 

What are the key lessons life has taught you in the last 60 years?

 

There are many of them.

 

One is that you must be strategic in your thinking and planning in order to become outstanding. An ordinary approach will always deliver ordinary results. If you look at the growth pattern of SIFAX Group, it is a result of a well-thought-out plan. The integrated approach has helped us. From running a clearing and forwarding firm to starting inland container depots across Lagos to bidding and winning the concession of a port terminal to setting up a haulage business that conveys goods from these ports to the container depots, to bidding and winning concession of a ground handling company, to launching the Marriott Hotel and a financial services company. You will see that these businesses are complementary in nature and this has given us some form of advantage over competitors.

 

I also need to emphasise the place of humility. Let me tell you, before God, we are all equal, whether you are rich or people. Everybody deserves respect. Humility will attract people to you and they can go to any length to support you if they know you are not arrogant. I have always believed in living a simple and humble life which is scriptural because God admonishes us to live humbly and promised to elevate us. I have also studied the lives of many successful godly people and you'd see humility in them. I have many VIPs – ministers, successful businessmen and top government officials as associates, but I always come back to my constituency which is my old time friends and schoolmates and I cherish them greatly. I won’t abandon them because I now have new friends. I've gone to several places and people doubt if I were the Dr. Taiwo Afolabi they have heard so much about. I always tell them that simplicity owns the world.

 

Life has also taught me the importance of friendship and relationship building. It is a skill that is important to get ahead in life. Value friendship. I have some of my friends that have been with me for over 40 years, some since our secondary school days and we are still together today.

 

Obviously, it is the need to give back. Most of the time, God blesses us more than what we need so we could support and care for others. This is a lesson I learned from a tender age and I haven’t deviated from it till today.