President Uhuru Kenyatta has been declared this year’s winner of the African award on transport and road infrastructure.

In a ceremony held yesterday in Dakar, Senegal, Africa Road Builders declared him the winner in recognition of Jubilee’s outstanding projects in railway, road, air as well as a nationwide street lighting.

The selection committee declared him the winner after beating stiff competition from other African heads of states floored such as South Africa, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana that have witnessed sustained economic and infrastructure growth.

The selection committee acknowledged “the crucial role Kenya is playing as a commercial hub of East and Central Africa and the investment in big infrastructure projects to live up to the status.”

The recently launched Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) was singled out  by the President of Media for Infrastructure and Finance in Africa, Adama Wade who noted that the project has had immense socio-economic impacts.

“The SGR has reduced costs of travelling between the two cities by half and at the same time taking half of the time for the trip,” Wade said.

The award ceremony for the prize will be held on May 23 in Busan, South Korea, where President Kenyatta will be presented with the trophy.

The event will also coincide with the African Development Bank’s annual meeting.