Mark Thomas is Sector Manager for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management in the Africa Region of the World Bank. Mark joined the Bank in 1999 and has worked on Africa, Latin America, Europe and Central Asia, and South Asia, including periods based in Brazil and Turkey. He has served as Lead Economist for Côte d’Ivoire (2011-12), Kazakhstan (2011), and Turkey (2008-11). He earlier led programs on debt relief and debt management in low-income countries (2005-08) and on Brazil (2000-05). Mark’s areas of focus include economic growth, debt management, labor markets, and regional policy. Before joining the World Bank he worked for a Paris-based start-up management consultancy. He has also served as adjunct faculty at Georgetown Public Policy Institute, the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales at the University of Montreal. Mark Thomas holds a Doctorate in Economics from Princeton University, a Master’s in Economics from McGill University, and a Bachelor’s (First Class) in Mathematics from the University of Oxford. He is a Freeman of the town of Llantrisant in Wales.