4. Sierra Leone
GDP per capita: $310
Inflation rate: 11%
Rich in diamonds, titanium and other commodities, Sierra Leone might finally be getting its act together. The IMF projects 4.7% GDP growth in 2010 and a 2008 anticorruption act has led to the removal of at least 13 government officials, including the vice president's chief of staff. But with exports of just $205 million last year, Sierra Leone struggles with a current account deficit of almost 9%.
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5. Nicaragua
GDP per capita: $971
Inflation rate: 1%
The government of socialist President Daniel Ortega might be popular with leftists elsewhere in South America, but it isn't delivering the goods at home. The second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti, Nicaragua actively discourages foreign investment and its citizens suffer from blackouts, water shortages and high energy costs that disproportionately hurt the poor.
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6. Burundi
GDP per capita: $163
Inflation rate: 8.5%
This war-ravaged Central African nation needs $5.8 billion in telecommunications, energy and transportation investments over the next 20 years to raise its economy to sub-Saharan standards, according to the African Development Bank. With the government spending 12% of GDP on its own employees, it's hard to see where the money's going to come from. Last year Burundi exported $44 million in coffee, leaving a $207 million trade deficit.