First Merchant Bank of Malawi to Open Botswana Branch in April

Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- First Merchant Bank Ltd., a Malawian lender, will start operations in Botswana in April, said Executive Director Sean O'Neil.

The unit, which was granted a license by Botswana's central bank on Dec. 27, will trade as Capital Bank Ltd., O'Neil said in an interview today from the capital, Lilongwe.

``We chose Botswana because its economy is stable and we have a fair chance of getting a good market share there,'' he said.

First Merchant had assets of 19.9 billion Malawi kwacha ($141.7 million) on Dec. 31.