[1] Incumbent president Ismaïl Omar Guelleh was re-elected for his fifth five-year term, having served in the role since 1999.

Guelleh has served as President of Djibouti since 1999, and was re-elected in the first round of the last election in 2016, which was boycotted by opposition parties.

[4] Incumbent President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh was eligible for a fifth term.

Guelleh's campaign highlighted the government's response to the pandemic locally, which had been praised by the World Health Organization.

[6] Guelleh's campaign did face criticism for some social issues, including the country's high unemployment rate and concerns that despite a high growth rate of 7% on average over the preceding five years, that the benefits of such growth was being unevenly redistributed, particularly towards the working class.