Cairns: Developing logistical solutions that support trade and investment movement
Herzhauser: An integrated system linking ports and airports to customs, storage, transportation and distribution
Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC Group), one of the leading groups in providing integrated logistics solutions in the region, is participating in the Qatar-Africa Business Forum, to explore opportunities to employ its infrastructure, regional network and logistics expertise in strengthening trade relations between Qatar and African markets.
The forum will be held in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), on November 2 and 3, under the slogan “Africa: The Next Global Investment Destination,” with the participation of an elite group of business leaders, investors and representatives of relevant authorities, with the aim of strengthening trade and investment partnerships between Qatar and African countries.
The group is represented at the forum by Axel Herzhauser, Chief Operating Officer, where he holds meetings with business leaders and potential partners to discuss promising business opportunities and determine the logistical requirements needed to take advantage of them.
Linking business opportunities with logistics capabilities
GWC Group provides integrated logistics solutions that include warehousing, shipping, distribution, and multimodal transportation, ensuring the smooth movement of goods from the country of origin to their final destination. The group also has specialized expertise in cold chain logistics services, which enhances its ability to deal with temperature-sensitive products, and opens the way for cooperation opportunities in the supply chains of agricultural and food products.
Matthew Cairns, CEO of GWC Group, said: “GWC Group’s growth has kept pace with the economic transformation process witnessed by the State of Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, during which we have gained extensive practical experience in developing logistical capabilities that keep pace with the expansion of economies and enhance interconnection between trade networks.
He added: These experiences constitute a solid base from which we can explore new opportunities in African markets, and we focus our approach on building partnerships with local entities, combining our operational expertise, our regional network, and our partners’ knowledge of the nature of the markets and their needs, which allows the development of logistical solutions that support the movement of trade and investment and contribute to achieving sustainable growth in the long term.”
For his part, Axel Herzhauser, Chief Operating Officer at GWC Group, said: “The real value of investments in infrastructure is evident in their ability to stimulate trade movement, which requires an integrated logistics system linking ports and airports with customs clearance, warehousing, land transport and distribution services. Through our participation in the forum, we look forward to examining opportunities for cooperation with local partners to develop these logistical links and enhance trade movement between Qatar, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and African markets.”
Regional performance supports growth ambitions
The GWC Group’s participation in the forum follows the announcement of its financial results for the third quarter of 2026, which showed a 37% increase in net profits compared to the same period in 2025, reaching 32.3 million Qatari riyals, while total revenues reached 397.8 million Qatari riyals. Revenues from international operations also doubled year-on-year, an indication of the progress the group is making in integrating its operational capabilities across markets and expanding its business outside Qatar.
The group continues to develop multimodal transport routes across its regional network, providing customers with more flexible options for transporting goods between markets. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the group is working to expand its logistics infrastructure to support multimodal transport movement between the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Its operations in the UAE also enhance its logistics services for the energy and express trade sectors, while its new contracts in the Sultanate of Oman include logistics services for the industrial, retail, food and automotive sectors.
In parallel with the expansion of its business, GWC Group is working on developing internal digital platforms supported by artificial intelligence technologies, with the aim of enhancing coordination between work teams, facilitating the exchange of shipment information, and enabling customers to plan and manage their logistics requirements more efficiently.
The GWC Group operates an integrated logistics system that includes 20 strategic locations in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Europe, and a logistics infrastructure extending over an area of more than four million square metres. The group handles more than two million metric tons of shipments annually, and connects its customers to global markets through an international shipping network covering more than 120 countries, through more than 550 shipping service partners.