Prosecutors in Zimbabwe say a fraud trial is set to hear claims a black baby was treated with skin-bleaching cream to extort money from a man of Asian descent.

Prosecutor Malvern Nzombe said a court in the second city of Bulawayo on Friday ordered a Zimbabwean woman and her husband to reappear for trial at a date to be set in August.

He said it is alleged they wanted the baby to appear that it was of mixed race in a plot to "reap financial benefits" from the light-skinned man with whom the woman had an affair.

Her husband is accused of helping plan the scam, Nzombe said.

In Zimbabwe's troubled economy, authorities have reported a recent spate of bizarre cons to extract money from unsuspecting victims.