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Niger President-elect, Mohamed Bazoum will be be sworn in on Friday.
The inauguration will mark the first-ever transition between elected presidents in Niger’s six decades of independence from France, a historic moment that has been widely applauded.
Bazoum, 60, is a former interior minister and right-hand man of outgoing president Mahamadou Issoufou, 68, who has voluntarily stepped down after two five-year terms.
Bazoum won a runoff vote for the presidency in February with 55.6 percent of the ballot, according to official results contested by his opponent, Mahamane Ousmane.
But his most formidable rival, former premier Hama Amadou, was banned from running because of a conviction for baby trafficking, he has since said the charge was politically motivated.
