Provisional results from the single-round presidential ballot, declared by the country’s electoral commission Ceni, showed that Tshisekedi had won 73 percent of the vote.

Flanked by his wife Denise and his mother, the president appeared on a balcony at his campaign headquarters in the capital Kinshasa to address supporters after the release of the results.

“I have been re-elected president of all Congolese,” Tshisekedi, who was dressed in a white shirt and cap, told cheering supporters. “It’s in this spirit of openness that I will exercise this second mandate”.

Moise Katumbi — a wealthy businessman, football club owner and former provincial governor — was the election runner-up with about 18 percent.