As reported in the WSJ, intrepid investors are seeking out opportunities in some of the most challenging markets around the world. Take, for instance, Zimbabwe where the annual inflation rate is 8,000% and rising, and people don’t have food to eat. As the article notes:

“…investors have started pouring millions of dollars into the country. Foreign direct investment has rebounded, reaching $103 million in 2005, up from just $4 million in 2003, according to the most recent figures available from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

…The race to invest in Zimbabwe also underscores just how far global investors are willing to stretch in search of decent returns. The turmoil in global credit markets has rippled across emerging economies, boosting yields for some of the riskiest bets around.

…Africa overall is emerging as a hot destination for money. Amid a global commodities boom, investment bankers from around the world are flocking to African commercial hubs such as Lagos, Nigeria, and Johannesburg.

…Managers at Imara Holdings Ltd., a Botswana-based investment-banking company, were surprised when investors started asking this year about Zimbabwe, considering the seemingly better opportunities in the region, including diamond-rich Botswana and agribusiness-focused Uganda.

…Imara launched a Zimbabwean-focused investment fund in March, hoping to pull in $10 million by the end of the year. It had $11 million in a few months, mostly from private investors.

John Legat, the fund’s manager, estimates most businesses in Zimbabwe are selling at 15% to 20% of their actual value. In October, Imara said the fund was up 35% in September from the previous month.

Investments include: Zimbabwean fast-food company Innscor Africa Ltd., which also owns a crocodile-farming business; mining subsidiary Rio Tinto Zimbabwe Ltd.; and Dawn Properties Ltd., which invests in hotels left over from Zimbabwe’s once-flourishing tourism industry centered around the spectacular Victoria Falls.

Pan-African investment house Lonrho PLC divested itself of its Zimbabwe holdings a few years ago, but now is getting back in. The London-based company has set up an investment fund targeting Zimbabwe and neighboring countries. The fund, called LonZim, plans to raise $145 million…

…One irony of Zimbabwe’s slump is that it is home to some of the richest gold and platinum reserves in the world. As a result, natural-resource investors — who are used to operating amid political instability — are looking closely at Zimbabwe, too.

South Africa-based Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., which owns two Zimbabwean mining subsidiaries, has announced plans to expand its operations in the country, and Anglo Platinum Ltd. is planning to build a 120,000-ton-a-month mine, one of its larger projects….”