Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh has been re-elected for a sixth term at the head of the highly strategic country in the Horn of Africa.
The official results released give 97.81% of the votes at the end of Friday's election, a figure which still needs to be confirmed by the Constitutional Council.
At 78 years old, Mr. Guelleh has been leading this small country of about one million inhabitants for more than two decades.
The outgoing president had only one opponent, Mohamed Farah Samatar, a former member of the ruling party, in an election that analysts said offered little real competition.
In Djibouti, opposition groups frequently boycott elections, citing restrictions on political freedoms.
Ismail Omar Guelleh had claimed victory even before the official announcement of the results on Saturday evening.
Having won the 2021 elections, which were also boycotted by most opposition parties, Guelleh had announced his withdrawal this year, but a constitutional amendment adopted in November removed the age limit of 75 imposed on presidential candidates.
