U.S. President-elect Biden to appoint Nigerian-American as Deputy Treasury Secretary

The United States President-elect, Joe Biden, is set to name a Nigerian-born attorney, Adewale Adeyemo, as Deputy Treasury Secretary, in his latest wave of appointments for his economic team on Monday, CNN reported.

Popularly known as “Wally,” Mr Adeyemo, a former senior international economic adviser during the Obama administration, will serve under Janet Yellen, who is set to lead the Treasury Department.

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.

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He previously 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.

If confirmed, Mr Adeyemo, who is currently the first president of the Obama Foundation in Chicago, would be the first African to occupy the position.

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.