Keith Boyfield
Keith Boyfield is Chairman of Leriba Limited, a pan-African business intelligence consultancy (see www. leribarisk.com). He is a Research Fellow of several well known think tanks including the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the Centre for Policy Studies and the European Policy Forum. He chairs the Adam Smith Institute’s Regulatory Evaluation Group where he is also a Senior Fellow. He is a Member of the Editorial Board of Economic Affairs, the IEA’s quarterly journal.
Keith has written and consulted extensively on competition and regulation policy as well as on development economics. He contributes to a number of leading newspapers and specialist journals including Financial Centres International.
His study of the rapidly changing relationship between the banking and insurance sectors – Global Insurance and the Capital Markets – was published by International Financing Review (IFR), a division of Thomson Reuters.
He has chaired a number of major international conferences and summer schools, most recently the NATO Summer School on Financial Security, held in co-operation with the Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baku, Azerbaijan in July 2010. Keith was educated at the London School of Economics.
Papers Published in World Economics:
How The Crown Estate Could Become Britain’s First Sovereign Wealth Fund
The United Kingdom is one of a few larger economies without a national wealth fund. This paper investigates the feasibility of a recent proposal to turn The Crown Estate, one of Britain’s largest property investment and management businesses, into such a Sovereign wealth fund as an alternative to its privatisation. The Crown Estate was created in 1760 by Parliament as a means of funding the British monarchy, but when the current Queen dies or abdicates there is likely to be a wide ranging debate about the type of monarchy Britain wants and how it is financed. However, with assets of just under US$12 billion The Crown Estate would be small in relation to other national funds. At present, with an estimated six trillion dollars, the global funds under Sovereign wealth management have been steadily increasing their significance in global investment. The largest single fund is the Norwegian Government Pension Fund with assets of circa US$803.9 billion, while greater China controls US$1.63 trillion through four separate funds. The authors argue that any British fund, even if formed out of The Crown Estate, should have access to the revenues from shale oil and gas which could be worth as much as £500 to £800 of GDP per head at 2012 prices.
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Averting a Global Food Crisis
The World Bank’s Food Price Watch reached a new historic peak in August 2012. High and volatile food prices spell real hardship for the world’s poor, and supply problems due to volatile climatic conditions have exacerbated the surge in global food prices. Investment in agriculture is handicapped by the lack of reliable, accurate data. In many developing countries, the methods of collecting agricultural statistics have hardly advanced in 50 years. This article analyses these flaws and omissions and reviews initiatives to resolve current shortcomings. Plantation agriculture offers one of the most effective means of producing sufficient food to meet global demand. The scope for enhancing production is considerable, particularly in certain countries such as Nigeria which are faced with a substantial food import bill. This article reviews a dozen key staple commodities and explores the opportunities to expand output with a particular reference to Sub-Saharan Africa. Recent research reveals the opportunities to improve production through planting more appropriate seeds and the use of fertiliser. Any step change in production hinges on the adoption of larger scale commercial production, for which private capital will be required. In the case of palm oil, the last few years has seen significant investment in Africa by global agri-business groups keen to complement production from the two major exporting countries: Malaysia and Indonesia. The potential for large scale agriculture has never been so bright as it is today in Africa.
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Keith Boyfield on Stephen Ellis: Season of Rains: Africa in the World. Diane Flaherty and Bill Gibson on Sylvia Nasar: Grand Pursuit:
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Malthus Postponed
The authors examine the potential to promote palm oil production in the tropical regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Given world population pressures and soaring food prices, the need to grow more food has never been more urgent. Palm oil cultivation offers one possible route to meet this demand; it also has a variety of other uses, notably biofuel. Major investors are committing substantial sums to develop palm oil plantations throughout West Africa. However, this major driver of economic growth has triggered controversy, particularly from environmental NGOs. The article assesses how far these criticisms are valid. In the process, four key challenges surrounding the development of plantation crops are identified. The REDD initiative – aimed at restricting forest land conversion for commercial purposes – is analysed and a number of practical hurdles to successful implementation are highlighted. The authors conclude that large-scale commercial plantation agriculture clearly has a major contribution to make in resolving the rapidly emerging global food crisis.
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Guest Editorial - Africa
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Keith Boyfield on Paul Collier: The Plundered Planet
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Keith Boyfield on Dambisa Moyo: Dead Aid
Author: Keith Boyfield
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