Thomas supports economic policy work across Africa, including on taxation, revenue management and other linkages between the extractives sector and the economy. This support ranges from providing policy advice to governments to building the capacity of civil society actors. Before moving to London, he led NRGI’s research, technical assistance and capacity building on these issues in Tanzania.

 

Prior to joining NRGI, Thomas spent three years working in Sierra Leone's Ministry of Finance on extractive industry issues, first as an Overseas Development Institute fellow and then as an independent advisor. During this time, he supported the development of tax policy for the extractive industries, led the ministry's work on tax modeling of mining projects, and worked to improve intra-governmental coordination in these areas. Thomas has also worked with the U.K.’s Department for International Development as a member of the technical support team to improve governance and management of Sierra Leone’s extractive industries. 

 

Thomas holds an M.Sc. in development economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and a B.A. honors in economics from the University of Nottingham.