Believe it or not …

Does anyone really believe the government will pick up the tab for the $370 million debt at the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company to make the broken-down, decrepit Redcliff plant more attractive to potential investors?  ( The old sign outside Redcliff town: Zimbabwe’s steel centre.)

The Ministry of Industry says that six replies have been received from 29 “invitations for expression of interest’’ sent out to steel companies worldwide with the debt waiver included. But anyone with any interest at all will  do their own due diligence and find out why the deal with Indian steel giant Essar fell through after seven years of tortured negotiations.

India, the biggest maker of generic drugs, had wanted to invest in our collapsed pharmaceutical industry – and create a regional hub for generics – but investors over there got the message from Essar : Don’t touch it with a bargepole.

Now the Zimbabwe Investment Authority says it has been working out a plan to pump $40 million into local production of essential drugs after UNIDO (the UN Industrial Development Organisation) said the industry could be revived with a meaningful injection of cash for working capital and new machinery.

Who’s kidding who here? There’s no money. It is a land of make-believe.

Delta Corp. is advertising a series of promotions and savings on its beer and soft drinks over the next few weeks that will make this “a Christmas like no other.”

That’s about right. No money, no petrol, no good cheer.