Keith Palmer
Current Interests
Cambridge Economic Policy Associates (CEPA) Founder and Chairman.
CEPA is an economic and financial policy advisory business focussing on issues where economics, finance and public policy overlap. Clients include governments, regulators and the private sector. Keith has led work for CEPA in all areas of its work including:
- regulation and financing of the energy,water, rail and airport industries in the UK and developing countries.
- efficient and effective PPPs in the UK and in developing countries.
- policies and mechanisms to promote agricultural and infrastructure development in the developing world.
- effective governance and performance of international not-for-profit public- private partnerships.
AADC is the operating company of AgDevCo, an innovative agricultural development company which seeks to relieve poverty by undertaking high risk, early-stage development of agribusiness opportunities in Africa. AgDevCo is a not-for-profit public private partnership operating with the support of European governments, including the UK and Norway, private foundations including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and CAADP, the NEPAD coordinating agency for agricultural development in Africa. AgDevCo has led the development of the Beira Agricultural Growth Corridor in Mozambique and the southern Tanzania Agricultural Growth Corridor. Keith is the founder sponsor of AgDevCo.
Infraco Holdings Ltd, Chairman
Infraco is an innovative donor-funded infrastructure development company operating in low income developing countries in Africa and Asia. It undertakes high risk, early stage project development and seeks to attract private sector expertise and capital to take the projects forward. It works in partnership with host country national and municipal governments and the local private sector. Keith assisted the eight-country donor grouping known as PIDG (Austria, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and UK) to create Infraco and he is Infraco's first Chairman. Following the successful development of InfraCo Africa, Keith was tasked with establishing an Asian infrastructure development company, InfraCo Asia, which is currently active developing infrastructure investments in the poorer countries of Asia.
The Nuffield Trust, Senior AssociateKeith is also a Senior Associate at The Nuffield Trust, a charity which commissions and undertakes research in the areas of health policy and health improvement.
Cancer Research UK, Trustee and Treasurer
Keith is a Trustee, Treasurer and chairs the Finance Committee of Cancer Research UK.
Kirkhouse Trust is a grant-making charitable Trust committed to supporting agricultural improvement in Africa and Asia.
Public Private Partnerships
Keith has been heavily involved in the design, implementation and operation of many different types of PPP schemes over many years, initially at Rothschild and then at CEPA, EAIF, GuarantCo, InfraCo and AgDevCo. Several of his current interests e.g. Infraco and AgDevCo are PPPs.
PPPs with which Keith has been closely involved as principal or adviser include:
Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) which is a partnership between European donors and the private sector that sponsors and funds infrastructure development and infrastructure finance companies, each of which is a public-private partnership. Keith helped create, and served on the boards of Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, GuarantCo and InfraCo.
AgDevCo is a public-private partnership which seeks to mobilise capital to create sustainable agricultural enterprises in Africa and improve small farmers’ incomes. Keith is the founding sponsor of AgDevCo and Chairman of its operating company, Africa Agricultural Development Company Ltd.
HealthDevCo is a proposed public-private partnership which seeks to structure and finance sustainable healthcare services to benefit families in low income developing countries. Keith is the founder sponsor of HealthDevCo.
Africa Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) which is a public-private partnership seeking to provide better access by Africans to improved agricultural technologies.
Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVMed) which is a public-private partnership seeking to provide better access by livestock farmers in the developing world to appropriate, affordable livestock vaccines.
Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) which is a global public-private partnership seeking to increase access in the developing world to vaccination and immunisation of children against common, preventable diseases.
Partnership for Maternal, Neo-Natal and Child Health (PMNCH) which is a global public-private partnership seeking to improve mother and child health outcomes before, during and after childbirth.
Utility Regulation and Climate Change
Keith has been heavily involved in the economic and financial aspects of the energy and utility industries for many years.
He has been involved in: corporate restructuring, creation of markets (e.g. electricity generation market), regulation and financing of natural monopolies (e.g. electricity transmission/distribution, water), contracting along supply chains and financing of regulated monopolies. Recent interests have focused in particular on regulatory risk and the impact of regulatory regimes on the ability of utilities in the developed and developing world to finance large capital programmes.
Keith also has a longstanding interest in restructuring and privatisation of mining and upstream oil and gas companies.
Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP)
Keith is Honorary Professor at CEPMLP at the University of Dundee. He taught the Energy and Mining Finance course for many years and supervised PhD students.
DECC Capital Markets Climate Initiative (CMCI)
The CMCI is a forum where governments and the private sector come together to identify tangible and deliverable propositions that can help mobilise private capital at scale for low carbon investments in emerging and developing economies.