Thabi Leoka is an Economist who runs her own economic consulting and advisory company, Naha Investments. She is also affiliated with the Finance for Development Lab (FDL), a research institute based at the Paris School of Economics. Thabi has worked for various organisations in the financial sector for over 20 years. She was appointed to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council in 2019. Thabi sits on various corporate boards. She also sits on the Statistic South Africa (Stats SA) Council where she chairs the Economic Committee. She was appointed by the Minister of Finance in 2018 to review the zero-rated products in order to support the poor and vulnerable in the country.

Thabi started her career as an Economist at Investec Asset Management in South Africa and London. She has also worked as an Emerging Markets Economist at Barclays Capital in London and Head of Economic Research, SA at Standard Bank and the Chief Economist for SA at Renaissance Capital. Thabi has a PhD in Economics and an MSc in Economics and Economic History from the London School of Economics and MA (Distinction) from the University of the Witwatersrand. Thabi was named the Economist of The Year 2017 by ABSIP. She writes for various publication both in South Africa and internationally.