(Reuters) – Zimbabwe plans to take on about $500 million of debt owed by state-owned steelmaker Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO) to allow a new investor to revive the company.

ZISCO ceased production in 2008 at the height of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown, but under the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company Debt Assumption Bill published on Tuesday President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government would assume all the company’s debts and issue instruments such as treasury bills to pay creditors.