Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has secured a fourth term with a commanding re-election win, according to provisional results.
The outcome was largely expected after his strongest opponents were deemed ineligible.Â
The 83-year-old former international banker won 89.77 per cent of the vote, his third consecutive decisive victory after the much closer election that brought him to power in 2011.
His predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to acknowledge defeat in that race, sparking a four-month war that killed about 3000 people.
Ouattara has since overseen a period of relative stability and steady economic growth in the world's biggest cocoa producer.
Former Commerce Minister Jean-Louis Billon, who acknowledged his defeat to Ouattara on Sunday, received 3.09 per cent of the vote, while former first lady Simone Gbagbo received 2.42 per cent, according to the results read on state television on Monday by Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, president of the electoral commission.
Simone Gbagbo called Ouattara on Monday to congratulate him on his victory, a source told Reuters.
The turnout of about 50 per cent was comparable to the presidential elections in 2020 and 2015 but far below the 80 per cent who voted in the first round in 2010.
Laurent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, former chief executive of Credit Suisse, were not legally permitted to run in 2025, and the remaining opposition candidates lacked the backing of a major political party, making Ouattara the clear favourite.
In a statement on Monday, Thiam said the election was "not a real election" and voting had unfolded in a climate of fear with weak participation.
The Constitutional Council is expected to validate the electoral commission's results in the coming days.
The election unfolded without major disruption on Saturday, after days of scattered protests in locations including Yamoussoukro, the political capital, where authorities imposed a curfew on Friday night.
The government deployed 44,000 members of the security forces and enforced what Amnesty International said was a disproportionate ban on protests.
Hundreds were arrested, and the Interior Ministry said dozens had received prison terms of up to three years for offences including disturbing public order.