New resorts at Ponta do Ouro and Zongoene, where tourists scuba-dive and race four-wheeled motorbikes across sand dunes, are prospering.

ECONOMIST: Mozambique

But Brazil has rarely been willing to find the money or the energy to do anything beyond cosmetic work in some of the smaller colonial towns, like Ouro Preto, in the country's richer southern half, which has a flourishing tourist trade.

ECONOMIST: Brazilian cities