President-elect Biden names Nigerian economist Wale Adeyemo named as deputy treasury secretary

PRESIDENT-elect Joe Biden has named Nigerian-born economist Wale Adeyemo as the new deputy treasury secretary as he continues with the formation of his cabinet ahead of the January 20 inauguration.

On November 3. Mr Biden,  former President Barrack Obama's deputy, defeated the incumbent President Donald Trump by 306 electoral college votes to 232. Despite President Trump refusing to concede defeat, President-elect Biden is proceeding with the formation of his government, already naming several key ministers.

Mr Adeyemo, 39, popularly known as Wally, is an attorney and was A former senior international economic adviser during the Obama administration. As deputy treasury secretary, he will be the number two person in the finance ministry under former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, who President-elect Biden plans to appoint as treasury secretary.

At the moment, Mr Adeyemo is the president of the Obama Foundation, providing advice on business strategy, macroeconomic policy and geopolitics to the Center for Strategic and International Studies economics programme. He previously served as the first deputy national security advisor for international economics from 2015 to 2016  and as the deputy director of the National Economic Council.

This will be the highest level a Nigerian-American has reached in the US government in the 244 years history of America. Mr Adeyemo has spent his career working with bodies that are at the intersection of public policy, the private sector and non-profit organisations (NGOs) focused on creating economic opportunity.

Mr Adeyemo also advises policymakers, business leaders, and NGOs on a range of topics including economic development, trade and investment and on strategies to address economic inequality. Appointed as deputy national security advisor and deputy director of the National Economic Council by President Obama in 2015, Wally served as the president’s senior international economic advisor.

During the Obama administration, Mr Adeyemo was responsible for coordinating the policy-making process on international finance, trade and investment, energy and environmental issues. He also served as the president’s representative to the G7 and G20.

Prior to this, Wally held several management positions at the US Department of the Treasury, including senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, as well as chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s provisions on macroeconomic policy. Mr Adeyemo is currently a member of several boards and organisations including the Aspen Strategy Group, the board of Demos and the board of the Golden State Opportunity Foundation.

Raised near Los Angeles, California, he is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley and Yale Law School. Wally also served as the first chief of staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he helped to build an agency devoted to protecting US consumers.