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.
Africa Agricultural Development Company (AADC) Ltd, Chairman
AADC is the operating company of AgDevCo, an innovative agricultural development company which undertakes high risk,early stage development of agribusiness opportunities in Africa. AgDevCo is a not-for-profit public-private partnership operating with the support of Rockerfeller Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and CAADP, the NEPAD a co-ordinating agency for agricultural development in Africa. 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 six-country donor grouping known as PIDG (UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Ireland) to create Infraco and he is Infraco's first Chairman. Following the successful development of Infraco in Africa, Keith has now been tasked by donors with establishing a new Asian infrastructure development company, InfraCo Asia.
King's Fund, Senior Associate.
King's Fund is the UK's major health charity. Keith's work is focussed on
- improving incentives embedded in the English NHS reforms to better deliver clinical and financial performance improvement.
- how to manage the financial stresses induced by the reforms and how to manage hospital failure.
- how to retain co-ordination and collaboration across healthcare networks and to better achieve desired health outcomes in the reformed NHS.
- how to promote quality improvement and care in the appropriate setting.
The Nuffield Trust, Senior Associate
Keith 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.
Barts and the London NHS Trust, Chairman
Keith has been Chairman of Barts and the London NHS Trust since June 2007. Barts and the London is a major London teaching and research hospital that provides acute services to the population of NE London and beyond. He is also a Trustee of the Barts and the London Charity.
Cancer Research UK, Trustee and Treasurer
Keith is a Trustee, Treasurer and chairs the Finance Committee of Cancer Research UK.
Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), Chairman (2001 - 2007)
EAIF is a public-private partnership debt fund which makes long term loans to finance infrastructure development in Africa. Keith assisted the Department for International Development (DFID) to create the fund and was appointed the first Chairman following a competitive selection process in 2001. He stood down as Chair and board member in October 2007.
Kirkhouse Trust, Trustee
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:
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.
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.
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 focussed in particular on regulatory risk and the impact of regulatory regimes on the ability of utilities to finance large capital programmes in the developed and developing world.
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.
Energy and Climate Security Panel, Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
Keith is a member of the DECC Energy and Climate Security Panel which advises the Department on strategic priorities for energy and climate change policy analysis. Keith has a longstanding interest in climate change policy particularly policies to stimulate investment in renewable energy. He has presented proposals for a UK technology-neutral carbon premium mechanism to the House of Commons Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change (See Papers on Utility Regulation and Climate Change).