Wale Edun

Nigerian economist, investment banker and politician

Chief
Wale Edun
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 August 2023
PresidentBola Tinubu
Preceded byZainab Ahmed
Lagos State Commissioner of Finance
In office
1999–2004
GovernorBola Tinubu
Preceded byMuhammed Ajibola Olagbaye
Succeeded byIsmail Adebayo Adewusi
Personal details
Born20th April
NationalityNigerian
Alma mater
  • University of London
  • University of Sussex
Occupation
  • Economist
  • investment banker
  • politician

Chief Adebayo Olawale Edun, commonly known as Wale Edun,[1] is a Nigerian economist, investment banker and politician who is the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy since August 2023.[2]

Education

Edun holds bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from the University of London and the University of Sussex respectively.[3]

Career

From 1980 to 1986, Edun worked at Chase Merchant Bank (later Continental) in Lagos, Nigeria. He joined the World Bank in September 1986 through the elite Young Professionals program, where he worked on economic and financial packages for several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1989, he co-founded Investment Banking & Trust Company Limited (now Stanbic IBTC) and served as executive director.[4] In 1994, he founded Denham Management Limited, which has since become the Chapelhill Denham Group; he served as chairman there from 2008 to 2021.

Political career

In 1999, he was appointed Lagos State commissioner of finance by then governor, Bola Tinubu, a position he held until 2004.[5]

He was the chairman of the governing council and the board of trustees of the Trust Fund for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) for the implementation of the United Nations Environmental Report (UNEP) on Ogoniland.[6]

On 16 August 2023, President Bola Tinubu appointed him minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy. He was sworn in on 21 August 2023.[7][8]

Personal life and philanthropy

Edun is married to Amy Adwoa Appiah, a daughter of the Ghanaian statesman Joe Appiah and his British wife Peggy Cripps, who was an author. One of their three sons is the British actor Adetomiwa Edun.[9]

Edun is a board member and the Nigerian chair of the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation.[10] He is chairman of Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame, a non-profit youth development organization that runs amateur boxing in Lagos.[11][12] He is also the chairman of Livewell Initiative, a health-based NGO.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Tinubu nominates Wale Edun into presidential transition council". punching.com. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  2. ^ Onuah, Felix (16 August 2023). "Nigeria's Tinubu appoints banker Olawale Edun as finance minister -presidency". Reuters. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  3. ^ Ijaseun, David (15 June 2023). "Meet Wale Edun, special adviser to the president on monetary policy". Businessday NG. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  4. ^ Olisah, Chike (16 August 2023). "Ex-Investment banker, Wale Edun, is Minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy". Nairametrics. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  5. ^ Sulaimon, Adekunle (17 August 2023). "Meet Wale Edun, revered economist, named Tinubu's finance minister". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Buhari inaugurates Wale Edun-led BoT, governing council for Ogoni clean-up". Tribune Online. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  7. ^ Aworinde, Oluwatobi (16 August 2023). "Full List: Portfolios Of Tinubu's 45 Ministers". Channels TV. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Tour operators: How Lola Ade-John can succeed as tourism minister - P.M. News". Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  9. ^ Mosley, Charles (2003), Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, p. 3063.
  10. ^ "Wale Edun lauds Duke of Edinburgh's legacy". The Nation. 11 April 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Lagos Boxing Hall Of Fame Clocks One". PM News. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  12. ^ Nigeria, Guardian (19 June 2021). "Edun urges corporate Nigeria to emulate GOtv's intervention in boxing". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  13. ^ Ologunagbe, Olamide (21 August 2023). "Fiscal headaches awaiting Edun as finance minister". Businessday NG. Retrieved 21 August 2023.