Leading pan-African financier, Rand Merchant Bank, has ranked Botswana the sixth best investment destination out of 45 sub-Saharan states, noting the country’s “very good operating environment”. The report – the first of its kind by RMB – bases its conclusions primarily around market size, market growth and operating environment.Botswana emerged behind South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and    .. more …

Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) — Australian state bond yields are trading at their highest levels since May 2009 relative to sovereign notes as investors shun all but the safest assets on concern Europe’s debt crisis will impair global economic growth. The extra return investors demand to hold states’ debt instead of federal securities rose to 74 basis points on Aug. 19, Bank of America Merrill    .. more …

COLUMBIA — South Carolina Community Bank, the state’s only African-American-controlled bank, is in trouble. In the past two years, the problems have piled up: intense scrutiny from federal bank regulators, a cruel recession, an embezzlement by a high-ranking executive and infighting among its shareholders. For David Swinton, chairman of the Columbia-based bank’s board of directors, the pressure    .. more …