Breakdown: Mexico’s New Government Taps a Dynamic Millennial for Top FDI Role

Mexico’s president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum is slowly providing a portrait of what her administration will look like. One of her more eye-catching designations has been Altagracia Gómez, a 32 year-old entrepreneur chosen to lead Sheinbaum’s Business Counsel.

This young millennial will be the de facto link between the upcoming Mexican administration and foreign investors in the midst of a nearshoring boom.

Who is she?: Hailing from the state of Jalisco, Altagracia Gómez is an executive at Grupo PEO, one of Mexico’s biggest and more diverse business groups. It includes companies in the automotive, transportation, real estate, food and warehousing sectors. 

• She’s also Head of the Board at Grupo Minsa, a major producer of corn flour in the country. Corn flour is the main ingredient in the elaboration of tortillas.

• Gómez has been working with Sheinbaum since 2022. She was one of Sheinbaum’s main economic advisors during her presidential campaign and has been present during the president-elect’s meetings with international investors.

• Her father (Raymundo Gómez) is a former Senator and her grandfather (Alfonso Gómez) one of Mexico’s most consequential entrepreneurs in the past 70 years.

Esperen mañana nuestro podcast con Altagracia Gómez, una gran joven empresaria. Platicamos sobre los planes que vienen por delante ¡No se lo pierdan! pic.twitter.com/oyROqJZIBv

— Dra. Claudia Sheinbaum (@Claudiashein) February 25, 2024

What she’ll do: “Altagracia will coordinate this counsel, formed by a diverse array of Mexican entrepreneurs, and work hand in hand with the Economy and Finance ministries in a way that enhances business development,” Sheinbaum explained back in July during a bankers’ conference. “They will push private investment focused on regional development and business relocation.”

What she’s said: Just like the previous entrepreneurial circle did for current president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), Altagracia Gómez is trying to make entrepreneurs –both foreign and national– feel at peace with Sheinbaum’s presidency, as well as drumming up as much enthusiasm as she can for her economic policies.

• “It’s not about giving peace [to investors]; it’s about generating excitement […] About telling them, hey, there’s a good opportunity here. If we do things well –government, business and academia, together–, we can transform this country,” she told Bloomberg.

Altagracia has stuck to AMLO’s (and now Sheinbaum’s) rhetoric of a “moral economy”, arguing for a continuation of the current president’s political project. 

• “We have a huge, huge responsibility towards the ideas and proposals of the Transformation [AMLO’s political project]. We must stick the landing, and do so without mistake. I believe we can all contribute to that,” she stated.

• Back in February, Altagracia described Sheinbaum’s economic project as “capitalism with a conscience,” adding that “there will be continuity [with AMLO’s vision], but with changes.”

Insider quote: “We’re hopeful for this choice. Altagracia’s credentials as a businesswoman could foster a terse connection between the government and private enterprise,” commented Ricardo Vaca, CEO of nearshoring consultancy Wise International. “I really hope that they [the government] allow Altagracia enough margin for action and that her work leads to a change in how businesses are perceived by the new government.”

• “We businessmen gave our vote of confidence to the upcoming government, though not without certain suspicions due to the politics and neglicence of the current administration,” Ricardo added. “Altagracia will have our support to grow investment and close the inequality gap in this country.”

Flashback: AMLO had his own Business Counsel, which included some of the richest men in Mexico, like telecom tycoon Carlos Slim. Their meetings were held mostly behind closed doors, and it was never clear how much influence they exerted over AMLO’s policies. 

• From what’s been said, Altagracia Gómez will be more a bridge between investors and government than an actual counsel to the President.

Big numbers: Despite AMLO’s reputation as an investment scarecrow, Mexico saw a foreign investment bonanza during much of his administration.

• The country drew US$36 billion in FDI during 2023, a historically high quantity that put it as the 9th biggest FDI recipient worldwide. As of Q1-2024, Mexico has drawn US$20 billion in foreign capital.

• The aforementioned has been attributed, however, more to circumstance than policy. US-China tensions and the years of supply chain crunches have fed the urgency for a more regional approach to manufacturing and services. Mexico is among the top beneficiaries of that approach.

NSAM’s Take: Sheinbaum’s choice of a young millennial woman as her business champion certainly comes off as fresh. AMLO was heavily criticized for staffing his cabinet with old names with problematic (and well-documented) political histories. Altagracia Gómez at the very least gives hopes for a snappier, open-minded and perhaps more diverse approach to business and economic policy. Despite AMLO’s promises of radical change, much of his tenure felt like a throwback to 1970s Mexico. 

There’s also the chance for a federal push of Jalisco’s tech scene. The state’s capital –Guadalajara– is regarded as the closest thing Mexico has to Silicon Valley. Much of that reputation was built over the past two decades by local entrepreneurs and the state government, with little to no federal assistance. As a Jalisco native, Altagracia Gómez might be more in tune with the potential of the state’s tech industry. Local businessmen are already praising the choice.

The question remains whether Gómez will help to keep some of Sheinbaum’s more radical political instincts and loyalties at bay, or if her job will be to justify them to global investors. It is too soon to tell, but assuming things stay more or less the same as in AMLO’s tenure, Gómez’s role will be effectively that of a manager of Mexico’s ongoing nearshoring bonanza. In other words: she’ll court investors who are already sold on Mexico as a destination for their capital.

Gómez’s pedigree is an example of how politics and business frequently mix in Mexico’s upper echelons of power. It was common to see some of the country’s top entrepreneurs defending AMLO’s more raucous policies publicly, and we expect Gómez to do the same for Sheinbaum. This should be seen, however, as a diplomatic gesture, not a sign of unquestioning belief in a political project. 

Gómez’s comment of “continuity with change” is perhaps an accurate encapsulation of what investors can expect from her and from the upcoming Mexican administration. AMLO is an extremely powerful figure in Mexican politics. Sheinbaum will most likely be beholden to the core aspects of his political project, with small improvements that don’t diverge from the main path. 

That might sound alarming for some foreign investors, given AMLO’s reputation. However, not even AMLO’s more radical plots have been able to stop Mexico’s nearhosing boom. Inertia is too strong at this point. Within that context, Altagracia Gómez’s contributions might not be as significant, but they will certainly be of consequence. At the very least, business deals in Mexico will begin moving at “millennial speed.”