Scipion Capital, an African-focused investment firm with offices in London and Geneva, is to launch its Scipion Alpha Seeker hedge fund in April, adding to two existing portfolios of African assets.

The new fund will be domiciled in The Cayman Islands, holding shares apart from those listed in South Africa and Egypt, because these two countries are more closely correlated with western European markets than among African economies, Scipion said.

The fund, which has a minimum investment requirement of $1 million, will be open to individual and institutional investors and its performance will be measured against the Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Markets index. The fund will invest in established and new companies that are floated on African stock markets.

Hedge fund and traditional long-only investment firms are increasingly looking at Africa as the mineral-rich continent has benefited from the current global commodity boom.

Africa has caught the imagination of the UK fund management industry. Companies such as Progressive Asset Management have launched a closed-ended portfolio of “frontier market” assets based in Africa, Latin America and other regions, while London-listed New Star Asset Management launched its Heart of Africa Fund last autumn.