Asset management firms are launching investment trusts targeting Africa, where infrastructure construction and resource development are booming.

Sompo Japan Asset Management will set up on 30 September an African equity fund, which will invest in stocks of 20 to 60 telecommunications, financial services and other firms in countries such as South Africa and Nigeria.

Sales will begin on 2 September at Monex and other online brokerages, as well as smaller brick-and-motor securities firms.

The economy south of the Sahara Desert is projected to grow five per cent in 2010, eclipsing the 2.6 per cent expansion forecast for industrialized nations and regions, according to the International Monetary Fund.

"Africa, which is enjoying continuously robust growth, is in an advantageous environment in terms of equity management," says an official at Sompo Japan Asset Management.

Sompo Japan will follow in the footsteps of Nomura Asset Management and Capital Asset Management, both of which launched a South African equity fund earlier this year.