Benin's incumbent Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou acknowledges obvious victory of businessman Patrice Talon who is way ahead in early trends of their Sunday's presidential runoff.

"I called Patrice Talon this evening to congratulate him on his victory and wish him well", candidate Zinsou wrote on his Facebook page late Sunday.

About 4.7 million people were expected to cast their votes in 13,664 voting stations during the runoff poll.

Hours after voting operations ended, Benin Institute of Research (IBS) published early trends that showed Talon in leading position, with 64.8 percent of votes cast against 35.2 percent for Zinsou.

Talon obtained the support of 24 defeated candidates out of 33 who competed in the first round of Benin presidential election on March 6.

At the end of the first round, Zinsou took the lead with 28.44 percent of votes cast, while Talon came next with 24.80 percent. Enditem

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