Tanzania's ruling revolutionary party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has won the elections in the east African country's Indian Ocean archipelago Zanzibar, it was announced on Monday night.

CCM candidate for Tanzania's Zanzibar presidency Ali Mohamed Shein won the presidential election in Zanzibar by garnering 50.1 percent of the vote, while his main rival Civic United Front (CUF) Secretary General Seif Sharif Hamad by 49.1 percent of the vote in the Zanzibar presidential election.

Shein, who becomes the seventh Zanzibar President, scooped 179, 809 votes, while Hamad got 176,338 votes out of over 400,000 votes cast. Hamad conceded the results.

Shein, 62, Tanzania's former vice-president, is widely respected in Zanzibar. He was thrown into the national political spotlight after being appointed Tanzania's vice-president in 2001.