Zimbabwe's second president after long-time ruler Robert Mugabe with a military-backed coup in 2017, Emmerson Mnangagwa, won a second term in a vote that international observers said fell short of democratic standards.

Nicknamed "The Crocodile" because of his ruthlessness, Mnangagwa, who analysts judged to be more autocratic than his predecessor and lacked Mugabe's intellectual flair and ideological vision, won 52.6 percent of the ballots according to official results.

Mnangagwa has been the target of several apparent assassination attempts including a blast at a 2018 rally that killed two people, as hhe was also flown to South Africa for emergency treatment after eating ice cream from a dairy company, which his allies said was laced with poison.

Meanwhile, Foreign poll observers on Friday said Zimbabwe's presidential and legislative elections failed to conform to regional and international standards, placing in doubt the credibility of the tense vote.

Zimbabweans went to the ballot box on Wednesday and Thursday in polling marred by delays, as the vote took place against a backdrop of discontent at Zimbabwe's economic crisis by observers.

Regional and international observers listed concerns over the canning of opposition rallies, denial of accreditation to several foreign media, missing voters' names from the roll at their polling station, biased state media and voter intimidation among the issues that sullied the election.

Similarly, the head of the European Union observer mission, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, said the election "fell short of many regional and international standards"."Violence and intimidation resulted ultimately in a climate of fear," he said.

In the same vein, Commonwealth observer mission chair Amina Mohamed, of Kenya, said overall the voting process was "well conducted and peaceful" but a "number of significant issues" impacted on the election's "credibility" and "transparency".

"Some aspects of the election fell short of the requirements of the constitution of Zimbabwe, the electoral act and the SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections," said head of the regional bloc's delegation Nevers Mumba, a former Zambian vice president.