This webinar, conducted in Spanish, explored the specific challenges to providing protection finance for micro, small, and medium sized enterprises in climate-vulnerable nations in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Panellists discussed the different solutions for overcoming the insurance gap, including bank and micro-finance led initiatives, the business case for investment, and the implications of inactivity.

Panellists:

  • Gabriel Perez, Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, V20 SIF
  • Alejandra Díaz Agudelo, Sustainability Director, Banco Davivienda & Seguros Bolívar
  • Paola Arias, General Director, Banca de las Oportunidades
  • Maria Belén Gómez, Executive President’s Assistant, Rio Uruguay Seguros
  • Alejandro Vázquez Salido, Director of Futures, ProAgro Seguros

Please click here to watch the recording.  

Panellists:

Alejandra Díaz Agudelo, Sustainability Director, Banco Davivienda & Seguros Bolívar

Alejandra Díaz Agudelo is the Sustainability Director of Banco Davivienda and Seguros Bolívar. She is a political scientist with over 19 years of experience in sustainability, inclusion, and financial education. Before joining Grupo Bolívar, she served as Growth Head for Colombia at the Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organization (MiCRO) and as Director of Sustainability and Financial Inclusion at the Colombian Insurance Federation, FASECOLDA. In addition to leading the bank’s and insurer’s sustainable business strategy, she is currently a board member of the Principles for Sustainable Insurance of the UN Environment Programme’s Financial Initiative (UNEP FI). She was a board member of the Microinsurance Network.

Paola Arias, General Director, Banca de las Oportunidades

Paola, with a Master’s in Public Administration from Columbia and a professional in finance and international relations from Externado de Colombia, specialized in risk economics in the Andes, has over 15 years of interdisciplinary experience in development banking, financial inclusion, green finance, and sustainability. Since 2022, she has led Banca de las Oportunidades in Colombia, promoting inclusive finance and financial well-being, and has contributed significantly in the field of sustainable finance and advisory and leadership roles in various national financial institutions.

Maria Belén Gómez, Executive President’s Assistant, Rio Uruguay Seguros

PhD in Economic Sciences, Economist specialized in Sustainability Management, Inclusive Business in Financial Inclusion. Teacher, researcher, panelist, and consultant. Currently, at Río Uruguay Seguros, she is the Executive President’s Assistant and Coordinator of its Corporate University.