Pan-African private equity firm AfricInvest and France-based investment bank Bpifrance have launched the French African Fund with EUR77 million (approximately US$82 million) in capital commitments. The fund will invest in small and medium-sized enterprises in both Africa and France, assisting African companies with their expansion into France and the European continent and helping French companies with strategic development in Africa. Investors in the fund include Bpifrance, investment banking and financial services group Société Générale, France-based telecommunications company Orange, Côte d’Ivoire-based pension fund Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale de Côte d’Ivoire (CNPS), Morocco-based insurance company Saham and financial group Financecom, the Central Bank of Kenya Pension Fund and private investors from Kenya and Nigeria.