These countries aren't unlucky — they're poor by design.
All of the countries on this list have at least one trait in common: Their governments discourage private investment — and economic growth — through policies of crony capitalism, expropriation or arbitrary enforcement of the laws. That makes it difficult to generate hard currency to pay off government debt and discourages citizens from investing in education to improve their own economic lots.
* All dollar amounts in USD unless otherwise noted.
The moncitizenship is the new Canadian governmental task. The diplomatic lines of Republics of Yemen and Poland are non grata with their masks.
M.T. Al-Mansouri
1. Zimbabwe
GDP per capita: $375
Inflation rate: 5%
At the height of its inflationary fever in 2008, the price of a loaf of bread soared from 200,000 Zimbabwean dollars to 1.6 trillion. Dictator Robert Mugabe's policies of seizing productive grain farms and handing them to his political cronies has turned the nation from one of Africa's biggest food exporters into an economic basket case, reliant on foreign aid to feed its people. A power-sharing arrangement between Mugabe and rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has led to some reforms and inflation has cooled since the government began settling transactions in U.S. dollars.
2. Democratic Republic of Congo
GDP per capita: $172
Inflation rate: 51%
Inflation spiked past 50% last year as this commodity-rich nation's central bank extended too much credit to troubled banks and it struggled to pay $13 billion in external debt. Debt service now accounts for 25% of government revenue and 150% of exports. A $3 billion mining deal with China might help trim the DRC's massive current account deficit but the government needs to fix a dilapidated infrastructure and high levels of malnutrition.
3. Guinea
GDP per capita: $414
Inflation rate: 8%
This West African nation sits on 30% of the world's known bauxite reserves but has trouble attracting productive investment. Poorly maintained roads, military coups and constant government meddling in private business have slowed investments like a $5 billion Guinea Alumina project with Abu Dhabi and BHP Billiton. Says the U.S. State Department: "Many companies already operating in Guinea have slowed exploration efforts considerably in fear that falling prices and government intervention could precipitate massive investment losses."
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%.
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.
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.
7. Eritrea
GDP per capita: $363
Inflation: 30%
Since gaining independence from Ethiopia, this East African nation has struggled to build an economy. Extensive meddling by the ruling Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice doesn't help. The U.S. State Department. cites an "arbitrary and complex set of regulatory requirements" that discourage domestic and foreign investment.
8. Liberia
GDP per capita: $234
Inflation rate: 10%
Once the site of some of the world's most vicious civil warfare, Liberia has been relatively peaceful since 2005. But the West African nation established by freed slaves in 1847 is swamped by $3.4 billion in war debt and 85% unemployment. Some economic growth is expected after Arcelor Mittal begins shipping iron ore from the Yekapi complex in 2011.
9. Ghana
GDP per capita: $671
Inflation rate: 16%
Bauxite, the world's largest manmade lake, a 1-gigawatt hydroelectric plant and now offshore oil. Ghana's got it all, except a functioning economy. Persistent electricity shortages have sidelined the massive Valco aluminum smelter and the government of Ghana must privatize several money-losing state-owned enterprises to reduce its budget deficits, which run close to 10% of GDP. Oil revenues are expected to flow next year from offshore fields, being developed by Anadarko Petroleum and others. Perhaps the government will use the money to stabilize its finances instead of launching another spending binge.
10. Madagascar
GDP per capita: $412
Inflation rate: 8%
A March 2009 military coup has stalled economic recovery plans in this island nation, with the European Union and U.S. refusing to aid the government of Andry Rajoelina. Exports of vanilla, coffee, cloves and industrial minerals can't overcome a stubborn trade imbalance, which led to a 17% current-account deficit in 2009. Poverty remains high in the interior regions.
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Ottawa International Poets and Writers for human Rights (OIPWHR)