AfricInvest Europe, the Paris-based arm of the pan-African private equity firm AfricInvest Group, has reached a first close of €50m ($58.5 million) for its third fund dedicated to connecting French businesses with African markets.
The vehicle, known as the French-African Fund (FFA 3), will continue the firm’s established strategy of taking minority equity stakes in fast-growing French small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have an existing or planned commercial link to Africa.
This brings the total assets under management for this specific strategy to approximately €150m since its launch in 2017.
The Strategy: More than just capital
AfricInvest’s proposition isn’t just about funding. The firm leverages the extensive network of its parent company — one of Africa’s most established private equity players with over 100 employees across eight African offices — to help its French portfolio companies navigate expansion on the continent.
This “African angle” can range from setting up production sites and distribution channels to forming new commercial partnerships. The goal is to provide French management teams with on-the-ground expertise and access to local commercial, financial, and industrial partners.
Since 2017, the firm’s French-African funds have completed 18 investments in sectors as diverse as healthcare, vocational training, water management, mobility, and digital solutions.
New Fund, Broader Backing
FFA 3 will target 10 to 12 investments, with ticket sizes ranging from €5m to €10m. The fund will participate in both majority and minority transactions, often co-investing alongside other private equity funds or directly with company founders.
Notably, the fund has attracted a mix of historical and new investors. Long-term backers like France’s Bpifrance, Proparco, and BNP Paribas have returned. They are joined by new international limited partners (LPs), including pension funds from Kenya and Gagan Gupta’s Equitane Group from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This signals growing interest from African and Middle Eastern institutional investors in the Europe-Africa investment corridor.
“Many investors have reaffirmed their confidence in us, and new investors have been convinced by our investment thesis,” said Stéphane Colin and Khaled Ben Jennet, Managing Directors of AfricInvest Europe. “We bring real additionality to every portfolio company, particularly on their African development, alongside management teams and co-shareholders.”
The fund is also classified as an Article 8 fund under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), indicating a focus on promoting environmental or social characteristics, such as good governance, job creation, and transparency.
The strategy is underpinned by the credibility of the wider AfricInvest Group. Founded in 1994, the Tunis-headquartered group is a veteran of Africa’s private equity landscape, having raised over $2.3bn and backed more than 230 companies across 38 countries. Its activities span private equity, venture capital, and private credit, giving its European arm a deep well of continental expertise to draw upon.