Polls have now officially closed in Zimbabwe's general election, but people already in queues will be allowed to vote. You can keep up-to-date with developments by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.

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For now, we leave you with this image posted by Instagrammer Kundai Benhura:

Andrew Harding
BBC News, Harare

Image source, EPA

There is an overwhelming desire for change in Zimbabwe, and both the ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition MDC Alliance are promising just that.

This election could be close, perhaps even going to a run-off.

Voter turnout has been huge. There have been some delays and frustrations, but the process is being closely watched by teams of foreign and local observers.

The count will be subjected to even closer scrutiny, as a largely hopeful nation waits to see what path Zimbabwe is about to take.

Our colleague Piers Scholfield shares this picture of the sun setting on a historic day in Zimbabwe:

Zimbabwe's state-owned Herald newspaper is reporting that queues are still long in at least one polling station in the second city, Bulawayo.

Officials have increased the number of polling booths to process voters quickly, the paper reports:

Around 68% of Zimbabwe's population lives in rural areas, according to World Bank data from last year, external.

The BBC's Pumza Fihlani went outside the capital, Harare, to find out how rural voters feel and what issues matter most to them.

Zimbabwean media tycoon Trevor Ncube says he thinks rigging could take place through the night after polls shut.

"This is this time when vigilance is demanded from polling agents and observers. Protect the vote. Hug that box through the night. No five-star hotel tonight," he adds.

As for voters, he wants them to try their luck as caption writers for a photo of ex-President Robert Mugabe:

State-owned ZBC has tweeted these pictures of voters in the opposition bastion of Matebeleland whiling away in a town centre after casting their votes.

Fergal Keane
BBC Africa editor

Image source, Getty Images

Just a year ago Zimbabweans were certain that this election - like others before it - would return Robert Mugabe and his clan of cronies to power. This was a country in which hope had been smothered.

This morning, from long before sunrise, Zimbabweans queued to vote knowing that there was at least the possibility of a decisive break with the past. Gone was Mugabe.

And the man who ousted him last November, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was facing a strong challenge from a politician 35 years his junior.

Whether Mnangagwa or his main opponent Nelson Chamisa wins, the fear that characterised the Mugabe years is ebbing away.

In Chitungwiza, a satellite town of Harare, I met a returned political exile, now election observer, Tafadzwa Musekiwa.

As we watched the patient crowds queue to vote he spoke: "This is what it should have been like always."

There is a great sense here of lost potential.

But Zimbabwe has re-engaged with the world. Both incumbent and challenger recognise that without foreign investment and aid the country is doomed to claustrophobic stagnation.

The world will need to be satisfied that the poll has been free and fair if investment is to flow. It won't happen if the results are disputed and Zimbabwe is pitched into turmoil.

Proud voters in today's election have been flaunting their inked fingernails in selfies on social media, earning them a cheeky comparison from one Twitter user.

Scroll down to the bottom to see it.

Zimbabwean activist Doug Coultart, the son of opposition politician David Coultart, has tweeted a picture of a polling station in the capital, Harare, where voting has ended.

He tweets that electoral officials are just waiting for the counting to begin after the polls close at 17:00 GMT.

Image source, AFP

Zimbabweans have until 7pm local time (17:00GMT) to get to their polling stations to take part in the country's first presidential election not to feature long-time leader Robert Mugabe.

Registered voters who join the queue by the cut-off time will be able to cast their vote, civil society groups say.

The European Union's chief observer in Zimbabwe's election, Elmar Brok, says many voters, especially young women, left voting queues in frustration because of long delays, Reuters news agency reports.

He stressed that while the EU had not yet reached a conclusion about the poll, voting went "very smoothly" in some areas but was "totally disorganised" in others, resulting in angry voters leaving queues, Reuters reports.

This is the first time in 16 years that the EU has been allowed to observe Zimbabwe's election.

Image source, Getty Images

Our colleagues are on air with Focus on Africa radio - click this link to hear their special election broadcast live from Harare.

Right now, voters are telling presenter Bola Mosuro about their experiences at the polling booth this time around.

"There are a number of people with surnames beginning with 'M' like mine - that was the only problem!," says one voter, adding she had to queue for a while before casting her ballot.

Our colleague Stanley Kwenda has shared this photo of a voter who says he wants the next president to help him get artificial limbs so that he can get back to his farm:

Alastair Leithead
BBC Africa correspondent

I've come to a very rural constituency in Matabeleland, south-west Zimbabwe, an area with a terrible history.

In the early 1980s, factions in the newly independent Zimbabwe fell out and a unit of North Korean-trained troops came and killed large numbers of people. It’s something that hasn’t been forgotten.

But since the downfall of Robert Mugabe, things have started to change over the last nine months.

For many years, the election process has not been free or fair, but this time around it's been marked by how peaceful it's been.

Opposition groups have been able to campaign in rural areas and not been beaten as they were in the past.

But we don't know how people here are going to vote. You might assume they're going to vote against Zanu-PF but that isn’t necessarily the case.

The key thing steering people's decisions is the economy.

Of the 900 or so people who are registered to vote here, two-thirds are women. There are very few men of working age as they have left they for neighbouring countries because unemployment is so high.

And these are the issues here: this idea of trying to acknowledge what happened in the past and move forward, plus how to take this country on and grow its economy again.

Watch Alastair's report:

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Harare

As voting continues throughout the country, officials say the process has been smooth and peaceful so far – elements missing from past elections here.

Having covered the last two votes in 2008 and 2013, I’ve met families who shared horrid stories of assault and intimidation for pledging allegiance to any party other than Zanu-PF.

At a polling station earlier, one person told me: "I am voting to express my freedom. That's something I have not been able to do since 1980".

The fact that people in Zimbabwe now freely talk about politics, regardless of who they support, speaks to a new order here.

This is not to say Zanu-PF has lost favour. Quite the contrary, many say that by removing its founder, Robert Mugabe, the liberation movement has managed to give itself a new lease of life.

And so this is a close race for the top job.

But when the sun sets today, through their votes, Zimbabweans will have done all they could to help steer their country’s future.

Over the next few days, with the eyes of the world watching, this country’s newest democratically elected leader will be announced.

Many pray the peace will hold.

Image source, AFP

Pastor Evan Mawarire, who was a hailed by many in Zimbabwe as a hero for being behind the #ThisFlag protests two years ago, has released a prayer for the country on election day.

Pastor Mawarire rose to prominence in 2016 for his campaign that denounced the government's management of the economy.

He backed a stay-at-home strike which was one of the largest anti-government protests in years. And he was denounced by then-President Robert Mugabe

At least one person on Twitter has a tongue-in-cheek theory that Zimbabwe's former President Robert Mugabe took a while to mark his ballot paper because he was busy making an important revision to the list of candidates:

The elections are now eight hours old and a coalition of Zimbabwe NGOs observing have released some statistics on what they've found:

The news seems to be positive but in a statement ZESN says: "At this juncture, it is too early to draw any conclusions on the conduct of the election day."

Polls are due to close at 7pm (17:00 GMT).

This is the first post-Mugabe poll in Zimbabwe but the man still has star power if the reception he got at his polling station is anything to go by.

The crowds in Highfield, a suburb of the capital, Harare, cheered him in and out:

Mr Mugabe was ousted last November after 37 years in power.

He's kept a low profile since then, but made a surprise intervention in the election with a press conference on Sunday.