(FORTUNE Magazine) – While chaos reigns in Rwanda and Nigeria, global capital is taking its chances in such African countries as Ghana, Morocco, and those in the continent's southern tier. Says Michel ZhuParris, portfolio manager for the Morgan Stanley Africa Investment fund: "Everybody is hungry for the next Asia." Individual investors are finding acceptable risks in mutual funds that offer a chance to . play Africa. A batch of intrepid multinationals are risking a bit more by investing directly in the continent, mostly in countries that have or are establishing stock markets. Owens-Corning, for instance, went south last November to open a factory in Botswana that manufactures fiberglass-reinforced pipe for water and sewage. Infrastructure projects in the southern tier are creating so much demand that the company plans to double capacity in 1995. Officials from Reebok International and PepsiCo say part of the reason they are back in Johannesburg is that South Africa offers a gateway to the rest of the continent. AT&T proposes to build a ring of fiber-optic telephone cables around Africa by 2000. The $1.7 billion network would be owned by a consortium of local telephone companies. H.J. Heinz is busy branding the continent. The company opened a tuna cannery last July in Ghana and is exploring a South African joint venture. Heinz has plants throughout Africa, including a ketchup factory in Egypt. Says Heinz vice president Ted Smyth: "Heinz must be where the emerging consumers are. These are people who want brands, because brands protect them from disease and from inferior goods." More global branding lies ahead. McDonald's, now in Morocco's Casablanca, will open restaurants in Cairo this October. South Africa is next, and more will follow.