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The Africa Equity fund was soft launched on 14 May and is managed by the firm’s head of global emerging markets, Richard Titherington.

The London-based manager is backed up by four Africa specialists and will also rely upon the research expertise of JPMAM’s £1.8bn Natural Resources fund team.

The fund will invest across the entire continent and will have a particular focus on resources and commodities plays. It will aim to benefit from growing consumer spending and political stability in Africa.

Claire Simmonds, client portfolio manager for emerging markets at JPMAM, said: "The fund is based on our view that the region offers several exciting themes. At the moment, growth is being fuelled by demand from emerging Asia for natural resources."

"The growing domestic demand story is also very compelling," she said.

The portfolio will invest directly into African markets, as well as holding African stock on Western commodities exchanges, such as those in London and Toronto.

The pan-continental vehicle has initially been launched as an offshore fund and JPMAM said it expected the FSA to greenlight the offering for UK distributor status in the coming days. The firm’s head of UK retail sales, Jasper Berens, said there were additional plans to launch an onshore version in the following months.

When fully invested, the portfolio will hold between 75-125 stocks and will have an anticipated turnover of 30-75 per cent a year. It is benchmarked against the MSCI Emerging Markets and Frontier Markets Africa index.

The fund is also expected to invest heavily in banking and financials firms – the continent’s largest sector – as well as infrastructure-related stocks.

The largest country holding is likely to be South Africa, followed by Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and Nigeria. In a response to liquidity concerns in the African market, JPMAM said it planned to close the fund when it reached a manageable capacity.

Recent months have seen other high-profile Africa fund launches from Investec Asset Management, Pictet Funds, New Star Asset Management, Franklin Templeton Investments and Société Générale Asset Management.