Managing Critical Issues & Risks Across Emerging Markets

Speyside Group analyzes the dramatic market shifts within Colombia's presidential race following the landmark first-round election results on May 31, 2026. Surpassing all pre-election projections, political outsider and far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella secured 43.7% of the vote, capturing more than 10 million ballots. He will face left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda of the ruling Pacto Histórico coalition—who finished second with 40.9%—in a highly consequential runoff set for June 21. This surprise outcome has completely upended a race that previously favored Cepeda, triggering immediate institutional tension. While the current Petro administration has publicly questioned the preliminary vote count without evidence, Colombia’s major business associations—including the Consejo Gremial Nacional and ANDI—have demanded absolute respect for the results and called for international oversight. For multinational corporations, this binary, ideologically stark choice carries massive investor implications for foreign direct investment (FDI), tax structures, and regulatory stability across the energy, mining, and infrastructure sectors.

Speyside Group analyzes the critical barriers and unfulfilled expectations surrounding The Lithium Opportunity Mexico Has Yet to Unlock. When the state created the state-owned enterprise LitioMX on August 23, 2022, the strategic resource was slated to anchor Mexico’s industrial future and feed its automotive hubs. However, three years after its creation, Mexico has yet to achieve commercial production. This briefing explores the sharp friction between political intent and severe geological and fiscal constraints. While early political framing touted massive national reserves, recent extensive testing has reclassified Mexico's lithium deposits in clay formations as "scarce or practically non-existent" under current extraction technologies. To prevent a complete structural standstill, the Sheinbaum administration faces intensifying geopolitical trade policy pressures ahead of the upcoming July USMCA joint review, forcing a necessary re-evaluation of how to combine state sovereignty with specialized international private capital.

Speyside Group analyzes how Indonesia’s Nickel Policy is fundamentally reshaping global supply chains by shifting the country from a raw exporter to a downstream processing powerhouse. Driven by President Prabowo Subianto’scontinuation of the resource nationalism agenda, Indonesia is leveraging its status as the world's leading producer of mined nickel to force domestic refining for stainless steel and electric vehicle (EV) battery production. While foreign direct investment (FDI) remains robust—with Chinese firms currently commanding a dominant 40% share of total operations—a wave of recent tightening measures has introduced critical regulatory and operational risks. For multinational corporations and mining investors evaluating What Indonesia’s Nickel Policy Means for Investors, a sudden return to annual production quotas, revised state benchmark pricing references, and impending progressive royalty increases have placed the sector at a volatile turning point.