Interview with Corinne Namblard, CEO of INFRA & P.E Advisory

Recently we had the chance to catch up with Corinne Namblard, the founder and CEO of the infrastructure advisory firm INFRA & P.E Advisory and an internationally recognized leader in private-public partnerships (PPEs). She has been busy conducting business and participating in conferences across the globe, from Australia to Germany to France. Here’s the highlights from our interview:

Corinne, what have you been up to these past months?

Early 2015, I took on a very interesting advisory mandate for a private Australian company whose principal business is in “trading water rights”. This company had a couple of innovative projects in sight, including establishing a water rights trading platform in the USA. Together with local financial and legal advisors, we fully developed a dedicated “Water Fund scheme” which received Board approval. The company decided however, to delay the implementation of this project and give the US project full priority, which is quite understandable given the current dramatic drought in Western America.

And more recently ? Since your return to Paris ?

I have since March, attended a couple of high level infrastructure seminars, in particular an Infrastructure Dialogue in Berlin in June, and I have also been invited to collaborate to a few upcoming publication and papers.  I am currently part of a project team led by Marc Frilet (FRILET Avocats and founding member of the Global Construction & Infrastructure Legal Alliance) contributing to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Public-Private Partnerships (UNECE PPP) Initiative on PPP Standards and Charters. Our contribution is focused on ZTC (Zero Tolerance to Corruption) in PPP Procurement. This is a significant paper.

Very proud to report that I have been asked to participate as a speaker to the UN PPP in France in November and in NY on October 13th.

Also currently seeking advisory mandates in Europe, for private parties, always focusing on P.E and Infrastructure Funds.

I understand you are advising a startup?

Yes this is quite exciting. I have been advising a French startup, IMV, ‘Data & Drone Experts’. I am so impressed with their value proposition that I have decided to invest and structure their upcoming fund raising. I believe the applications to the Infrastructure space alone are limitless. So more on this soon.

Sounds promising! What about your Board roles ?

Returning to Europe has led me to resign from the UNISA Council. With regrets, as the University of South Australia, one of the world’s Top 10 Universities “under 25 years” is on a outstanding growth path focusing on active synergies between academia and business, beyond the usual “marketing” hype. It was no longer possible to contribute at a distance and in sync given the pace of many business and strategic decisions.

I have kept, however, a role on the Heart Foundation board as I believe I can actively contribute with various inputs including conducting an international benchmarking on fund raising for foundations.

Last but not least, you may remember that various allegations had been made against me in 2009 in Italy. These accusations were politically driven and were played up by media in Australia which led me to resign from the Qantas Airways board in order to avoid unnecessary polemics. I am very happy to report that the official notice of statute of limitations definitely clears the situation. I have thus been officially endorsed and invited to join the Australian Government BoardLinks.

Now that I am back in Europe, I am seeking new Advisory Committees and Board roles.