(Ecofin Agency) - The Ivorian and African football legend Didier Drogba is back in the spotlight but this time in the framework of the banking services digitalization in Africa. On March 14, 2018, he will be officially presented as the ambassador of the digitized retail banking services of Standard Chartered Bank. The former star of Olympique de Marseille and Chelsea will lend his voice and image rights to a series of marketing and community engagement activities over the next 12 months.

 “The launch of our digital bank in Côte d'Ivoire is a landmark event in our history within the region. The digital transition also means progression, not only for our company but also for our customers. We also look forward to revealing the details of our very first digital bank very soon,” said Suni Kaushal, Managing Director for Africa and the Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank.

Active in 16 African countries, the banking group has chosen Côte d’Ivoire as the lead market for this new service. “Our presence in over 60 markets offers us an unprecedented opportunity to test and refine new concepts in unique locations before we deploy them across other sites. Currently, we are doing this in Côte d’Ivoire where we are testing a fully digital banking service,” explained Bill Winters, the group’s MD, in the 2017 annual financial report.

Idriss Linge