Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara secured a fourth term with a commanding re-election win, according to provisional results announced on Monday.

The 83-year-old former international banker won 89.8 percent 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 around 3,000 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 3.1 percent of the vote, while former first lady Simone Gbagbo received 2.4 percent, according to the results read on state television by Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, president of the electoral commission.

The election took place in a "generally calm and peaceful" atmosphere, despite some "marginal and isolated incidents" reported in the western, central-western, and southern parts of the country, according to the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) and electoral observation missions.

The CEI said these incidents, which did not call into question the integrity of the vote, included vandalism against electoral materials, road obstructions, and intimidation of election officials.

Upon the release of the initial results on Sunday evening, Billon conceded defeat and extended his congratulations to Ouattara.

The turnout of around 50 percent was comparable to the presidential elections in 2020 and 2015 but far below the 80 percent who voted in the first round in 2010.

Laurent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, former CEO of Credit Suisse, were not legally permitted to run this year, 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 that 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.

Ouattara, a former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has said that in a fourth term he would continue growing the economy and attracting private investment.

He also vowed to use a fourth term to facilitate a passing of the torch to a new generation of political leaders.

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 a 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. (Reuters/ Xinhua)