How Liberia wrote off its debts

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How the Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf negotiated to write off billions of dollars of debt, accumulated over two decades of civil war. Coming to power in 2006, Johnson Sirleaf had to govern the West African country with little tax revenue and owing large sums to countries and institutions it could never hope to pay back. After four years of intensive negotiations and even support from the Irish rock star Bono, in 2010 the World Bank and International Monetary Fund announced they would forgive 4.6 billion dollars of the country’s debt. Bob Howard speaks to former president Johnson Sirleaf about the long road to debt forgiveness. Photo: Ellen John Sirleaf. Credit: Olivier Poulet/Getty Images