Ivory Coast international Yaya Toure has been crowned African Footballer of the Year.

­The Manchester City midfielder beat Mali's Seydou Keita and Ghanaian Andre 'Dede' Ayew in a vote by national team coaches from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

"This award isn't important for me alone,” Toure said at the awards ceremony, which took place in Ghana. “It's for my country and for my club. This is a big step in my career, I'm very thrilled. To be the winner is fantastic."

The 28-year-old moved to Manchester from Barcelona in a £24 million transfer after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Since then, he has made 69 appearances in the City jersey and scored 14 goals in different competitions, including the winning strike against Stoke City in the FA Cup final.

Tore is also an essential part of the Ivorian national squad, who are the only side to win every game in the preliminaries for the 2012 African Cup of Nationals.

The Man City star became the second Ivory Coast native to bag the award as Didier Drogba of Chelsea was selected in 2006 and 2009.

Anzhi’s star forward, Samuel Eto’o, was on the African Footballer of the Year shortlist, but failed to make it into the Top 3 this year.