The promoters of Taiwo Afolabi Annual Maritime (TAAM) Conference have concluded plans to hold the fourth edition of the event geared towards boosting the growth of the nation’s maritime sector through reforms.
The conference, which is an initiative of the Maritime Forum of the University of Lagos and SIFAX Group, will hold this Friday, September 13, 2019 at the University of Lagos, in honour of Taiwo Afolabi, Group executive vicechairman of SIFAX Group.
At this year’s event, Olasupo Shasore, former attorney general and commissioner of Justice, Lagos State will deliver the keynote address, and lead other eminent maritime industry leaders, legal experts, academics and university students drawn from over 10 institutions to discuss on the theme, ‘Innovations and Practical Reforms Towards Sustainable Growth in Nigeria’s Maritime Sector’.
Taiwo Afolabi, Group executive vice-chairman of SIFAX Group, said the need to deepen discourse on topical issues in the nation’s maritime industry, as well as proffering practical solutions to them, gave birth to the conference.
He said the event would dwell on issues bordering on innovations and practical reforms needed for sustainable growth of the maritime sector.
TAAM “To sustain growth, we need to invest in innovations and reforms. The 2006 reform, which gave birth to concessioning of the ports, has yielded great gains for Nigeria. Nigeria’s port concession has served as a model for many other African countries. Now that we have seen the fruits of concession, we need to embark on more aggressive reforms and innovations that will make the maritime sector the major earner for the government,” he said.
On his own part, Gbenga Akinlade, president, Maritime Forum, said the conference would be beneficial to both the industry and students due to its objective of being an avenue to stimulate intellectual discussions between maritime experts and the university community.
