Botswana grants two licences to Indian banks

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Botswana's central bank said on Thursday it had granted two Indian banks licences to operate in the southern African diamond-producing country.

Bank of India and the State Bank of India join a throng of Asian companies trying their luck in resource-rich African countries.

Botswana, a sparsely populated country on the Kalahari desert, is one of the most stable democracies on the continent.

Some African companies have also been looking for opportunities in Asian countries to trap the trade flow between the continents. FirstRand , Africa's second-largest lender, received a licence to set up an operation in India in 2009.

(Reporting by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura; editing by David Dolan)