Last year, the world’s fifth least-developed country, Burundi, inaugurated a $22 million presidential palace. In Zimbabwe, whose economy the World Bank believes contracted by nearly 8 percent last year, a six-story, $100 million parliament building is nearing completion. The Liberian government, which oversees the world’s ninth least-developed country, is adding two new annexes to its capitol building and a new ministerial complex. The $66 million combined cost of the project equals more than 2 percent of Liberia’s estimated 2019 GDP.
