Harare — Gary Green is no stranger to adversity. The burly Zimbabwean has survived a brain tumour and rebuffed the seizure of his machinery business by people who claimed he was a foreigner and demanded he hand over control.

Now even Green’s resolve will be tested as an imploding economy, rampant inflation, and Zimbabwe’s crippling shortage of cash and electricity push his Bulawayo-based foundry, Anolle Castings and Engineering, to the brink. The nation’s second-biggest town, once nation’s industrial hub, has been hit hard as factories have either shut down or left.

At the heart of the sector’s crisis is Zimbabwe Iron & Steel Company (Zisco). At one stage among the continent’s largest steel mills, Zisco hasn’t produced for more than 15 years, robbing companies such as Green’s of reliable supply. The dystopian plant, between Bulawayo in the country’s southwest and the capital, Harare, stands as a symbol of the economy’s decline.

“Zisco is dead, it’s not producing anything so we have no raw materials,” Green, 57, said. “At this rate, I see myself shutting down because there is no scrap metal.”

The government estimates GDP contracted more than 6% in 2019, while half the population is in need of food aid, inflation is running at more than 500% and the local dollar has depreciated by more than 90% against the US currency in the past year. Rolling blackouts last as long as 18 hours a day.