Porto Amboim, Angola

This sleepy port town on Angola's coast is a far cry from the glitz of Luanda. With a population of just 137,000, Porto Amboim feels stuck in the past, its colonial-era infrastructure crumbling. The once-thriving railway that connected it to the coffee plantations has been abandoned since the civil war, leaving little in the way of economic opportunity.

While the offshore industry is making tentative inroads, the educational system remains underdeveloped, and the bureaucracy is a persistent headache. Skilled labor is in high demand, but the government's efforts to improve schooling have yet to bear fruit.

Porto Amboim is best suited for hardy, self-reliant expats willing to rough it in exchange for a lower cost of living and slower pace of life.