In yet another stunning example of how you can’t keep Zimbabwe down, the country’s tourism and hospitality minister has told reporters at the a UN tourism conference that plans are afoot to develop a $300 million “Disneyland in Africa” at Victoria Falls.

Walter Mzembi opined that Victoria Falls was already Zimbabwe’s most popular tourist attraction, but the town itself offered visitors little more than a place to buy bottled water and ice cream.

Walt said, “We have reserved 1 200 hectares of land closer to Victoria Falls International Airport to do hotels and convention centres,” while also making mention of shopping centres, casinos, and the like.

This, from the M&G:

The government has plans to invest $150-million in expanding the town’s airport to accommodate bigger aircrafts, according to the report from Ziana. Mzembi said the government had found funding partners including multilateral financial institutions.

But Walt went further. If the Zimbabwean government has their way, Victoria Falls will become something of financial hub. “We want to create a free zone with a banking centre where even people who do not necessarily live in Zimbabwe can open bank accounts”.

Spicy. I for one would welcome lunch meetings at Vic Falls.

[Source : M&G]