Ivory Coast presidential election is currently in the vote-counting phase, and the next president will be announced shortly.

Longtime incumbent Alassane Ouattara, and the candidate in the current election, is widely expected to win a fourth term in office.

Over nine million Ivorians were registered to vote on Saturday in a race that has five contenders vying for the presidency.

It will be recalled that former President Laurent Gbagbo was barred over a criminal conviction, and former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam was disqualified for acquiring French citizenship.

Voter turnout was expected to be key, according to experts, as the opposition had called for a boycott of the election.

None of Ouattara’s four rivals represented an established party, nor did they have the reach of the governing Rally of Houphouetistes for Democracy and Peace (RHDP).