Thousands of people are queueing outside the polling station, across the seaside capital, Ribbleville, to vote.
Gabon’s voters have voted in the presidential election as military leader Bryce Oligui Nuguema is trying to solidify his power in the first election since leading the 2023 coup.
Voting was held in the country at 7am (06:00 GMT) on Saturday, with reports of thousands of people waiting outside the polling station in the seaside capital, Ribbleville. Voting will take place in nine states throughout the country until 6pm local time (17:00 GMT). The results will be announced within two weeks of voting.
Around 1 million people, including around 28,000 people overseas, are registered to vote in this oil-rich but poor African country with 2.3 million.
Reported from Riblville, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said he is looking forward to voters, but that he is “stuck between hope and fear.”
Nguema, who helped end the rule of the 55-year iron-earned dynasty, led by former leader Ali Bongo, has led the polls. The Bongo family was accused of looting Gabon’s wealth.
30-year-old Aurele Ossantanga Mouila voted for the first time after finishing his shift as a casino crewpayer.
“I wasn’t confident in my previous administration,” he said.
Nguema took on the role of president in transition, overseeing the formation of a government, including civilians tasked with creating a new constitution after the 2023 coup.
The country is heading for polls at a time of high unemployment rates, regular electricity and water shortages, lack of infrastructure and lack of government debt.
Nguema dumped his military uniform when he campaigned for a seven-year term against seven-year rivals, including Alain-Claude Bilie by Nze, who served as prime minister under Alibongo before the coup.
He predicted a “historic victory” in the election.
“The builders are here, a special candidate you called,” Nguema said at his closing rally in the capital Libreville on Thursday, amid music and dance.
However, critics accused Nguema, who had promised to bring power back to civilians, of not moving forward from the years of the country’s vast mineral wealth under the Bongos, where he served for many years.
Nze’s Bilie, the main enemy of Nguema, cast herself as a candidate for “a complete rupture.”
“In reality, it’s a complete change election. It’s a challenge and we’re at a crossroads,” he told Al Jazeera.
He accused Nguema, who led Republican security guards during the Bongo era, of representing the continuity of the old system.
Nguema served as the camp for former aides to Omar Bongo before becoming chief of the presidential security under his son Ali Bongo.
According to the World Bank, anyone who wins must meet the high hopes of a country where one in three lives beneath the poverty line.
Gabon’s debt rose to 73.3% of GDP last year, and is projected to reach 80% this year.
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