Joe Biden To Appoint Nigerian-Born Adewale Adeyemo As US Deputy Secretary Of Treasury

United States President-elect, Joe Biden is reportedly set to announce Nigerian-born attorney, Adewale Adeyemo, as deputy secretary of the treasury department.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Adeyemo, popularly known as “Wally” will serve under former Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, who Biden plans to appoint to lead the US Treasury Department.

If confirmed, Mr Adeyemo, who was appointed as the president of the Obama Foundation in 2019, would be the first African to occupy the position.

Mr Adeyemo, 39, has held several management positions at the U.S. 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.

The Nigerian-American had also served in the administration of former president Obama as deputy national security adviser (NSA) for international economics.

He also served as the first chief of staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council during the Obama administration.

Biden’s economic team are mostly people who had served under the Obama presidency, and they reportedly played key roles in tackling the financial crisis that hit the US in the previous administration.

According to CNN, Mr Biden is to make the appointments public on Monday in a statement but the economic team will be formally introduced by the President-elect during an event Tuesday at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.

KanyiDaily had also reported that three Nigerian-Americans, Esther Agbaje, Oye Owolewa and Nnamdi Chukwuocha, won their electoral bids in the United States.