Colombia

Rapid expansion in the insurance industry over the past decade has largely been focused on Colombia’s medium- and higher-income groups, which together make up a little more than 30% of the population. However, as competition is forcing premiums on some policies to unsustainable lows, industry players are eager to extend their reach into the large...

THE COMPANY: Grupo Nutresa is the fourth-largest consumer company in Latin America by market capitalisation. The firm has a well diversified portfolio of products with more than 122 brands, 15 of which are leaders in Colombia and neighbouring countries. It also has six different business units: cold cuts...

Compared to regional and emerging market peers, Colombians are under-banked. Despite more rapid credit growth in recent years and efforts to broaden access, the ratio of loans to GDP was still below 38% at the end of 2012, while only 66.5% of adults over the age of 15 use at least one financial product. By November 2012 there were 34.6m savings...

The war against the assassinations, kidnappings and armed insurgency that have plagued Colombia for decades is being decisively won, after dealing massive damage to the country’s economic development and international reputation. As a result, spending on military and police forces is high. According to the UN’s Development Programme, in 2010...

In Colombia, like its neighbours Brazil and Peru, the use of hydroelectric power as the primary source of electricity has been a crucial aspect in expanding supply capacities to meet rising demand over the past half century. Indeed, in 2012 Colombia derived 68% of its 14,420-MW supply capacity from its vast network of rivers and streams, according...

THE COMPANY: Ecopetrol is the Colombian national oil company. It is one of the major oil and gas integrated companies in the world and, as a corporate conglomerate of more than 25 enterprises, has operations in exploration, production, transport and refinery of hydrocarbons. It also has subsidiaries in...