The award, called Babacar Ndiaye Great Builder, recognizes African leaders who have invested in infrastructure development.
João Lourenço succeeds his counterparts from Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, and from the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, joint winners of the previous edition in 2024.
The President was named winner of the Africa Road Builders Award 2025 for “the construction of major transport infrastructure in Angola”, namely the Lobito Corridor, a strategic regional rail link between Zambia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The African Development Fund, the concessional lending window of the African Development Bank Group, has provided a grant of US$8.14 million for this integrative project, which will facilitate trade between the three countries,” the statement details.
The construction of the new Dr. Agostinho Neto international airport in Luanda, which will open in November 2023, the laying of pavements on 2,000 kilometres of roads, the rehabilitation of more than 2,000 additional kilometres and the project to build a light rail system in Luanda “were the trump cards that supported this choice”, explains the Africa Road Builders selection committee.
The prize was created in honour of Babacar Ndiaye (1936-2017), President of the African Development Bank Group from 1985 to 1995.
Since its launch in 2016, the award has been presented to the following heads of state: King Mohamed VI (Morocco), Edgar Lungu (Zambia), Alassane Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire), Ali Bongo Ondimba (Gabon), Macky Sall (Senegal) and Paul Kagamé (Rwanda), joint winners in 2017, Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Adama Barrow (Gambia), Abdel Fattah al-Sissi (Egypt), Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria), Samia Suluhu Hassan (Tanzania), Andry Rajoelina (Madagascar), Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (Equatorial Guinea) and Denis Sassou-Nguesso (Congo), joint winners in 2024.
