Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (The Iron Lady)

President of Liberia (since 2006) and Africa's first female President

Date of Birth: 29/10/1938
Place of Birth: Monrovia

Education: 1948-1955, studied Economics, College of West Africa, Monrovia; 1961, University of Wisconsin-Madison; 1969-1971, Harvard, Master of Public Administration.

Career: Assistant Minister of Finance, 1972-73; Minister of Finance in the government of President William Tolbert 1979-1980; 1983-85, Director, Citibank, Nairobi; ran against President Samuel Doe; runner-up to Charles Taylor in the 1997 elections; 23 November 2005, elected President of Liberia.

Commentary: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is a former director of the United Nations Development Programme and Vice-President of Citicorp. She beat her rival, ex-soccer star George Manneh Weah, with a 20% margin of more than 150,000 votes in the elections on 8 November 2005. Known as the 'Iron Lady', Johnson-Sirleaf is often compared to Britain's former Premier Margaret Thatcher. The security worries come from her disgruntled political rivals and thousands of former militia fighters who want jobs and houses.

Her career in financial institutions has earned her many Western friends and her appearance at the funeral in October 2005 of Nigeria's First Lady, Stella Obasanjo, won her a private audience with President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Importantly, Johnson-Sirleaf has bridged Liberia's chasm between Congo and country: Congo refers to the America-Liberians, descended from freed slaves and country refers to the indigenous Liberians such as Kru, Bassa and Kpelle