Claim: Banjul ports terminal sold to Nigerian businessman
Source: Facebook
Verdict: FALSE
Researched by Awa Macalo
A Facebook post shared on May 7, 2024, showing the photo of Dr Taiwo Olayinka Afolabi, has gone viral with the claim that the Nigerian businessman has bought the Banjul Ports Terminal.
This post shared by a popular Facebook page, What’s On – Gambia comes with the caption: “According to Nigerian media, multimillionaire Barrister Taiwo Olayinka Afolabi, recently bought “the Banjul Ports Terminal”. Which terminal? The Gambia Ports Authority should clarify.”
The post has sparked controversy among The Gambia population online. At the time of filing this report, the post had gathered about 2.3k reactions and 1.2k comments.
Origin of the claim
A verified X user with 47.3k followers, A. Ayofe, @abdullahayofel, shared a post celebrating Taiwo’s 62nd birthday on May 1, 2024. He wrote in part: “He is the concessionaire and operator of the Tincan Island Ports Terminal C, he also bought the Warri Port for $100m, splashed an additional $20m on operating equipment. He is the owner of Lagos Marriot Hotel Ikeja, he recently bought the Banjul Ports Terminal.”
Who is Dr Taiwo Olayinka Afolabi?
Dr Taiwo Olayinka Afolabi is the CEO and chairman of SIFAX Group of Companies, which began its operations in 1988 as SIFAX Nigeria Limited. SIFAX Group is now a multinational conglomerate with investments in maritime, oil and gas, aviation, financial services and hospitality, haulage and logistics.
Fact-check
FactSpace Gambia investigation shows that the businessman did not purchase the Banjul Ports Terminal in The Gambia.
Publicly available information shows that in 2018, SIFAX Group (of which Afolabi is CEO) reached an agreement with the Gambia Government leading to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Gambia Ports Authority and SIFAX Group to build and operate a multi-million dollar dry port in the country’s capital Banjul.
A dry port is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport and operating as a transhipment centre for sea cargo to inland destinations.
FactSpace Gambia also contacted Public Relations Officers of The Gambia Ports, Authority Gibou M. Saidy and he said; “The information is completely wrong and holds no water.
“We don’t have a terminal to sell to a Nigerian. We have a wharf. All ports have a wharf, which is our landing site. Terminals are for the ferry landing site not for ports, so there are no plans within the management or the board or the GPA or the Ministry of Works or the Gambia as a government having plans to sell any wharf to any Nigerian millionaire, we are not. So it is not true and the wharf within the terminal for ferries is not on any sale nor has The Gambia sold any property to any Nigerian,” he added.
Verdict
Therefore, the claim that the CEO and chairman of the SIFAX Group of Companies, Dr Taiwo Olayinka Afolabi, has bought Banjul Ports Terminal, is false.
