Gabon's electoral commission has validated 19 candidates to run in the upcoming presidential election.
Michel Stephane Bonda, head of Gabon's Electoral Center, said that 27 nomination papers had been received by the deadline, 19 of which had been approved.
The names on the approved list include incumbent President Ali Bongo, who is seeking a third term.
Bongo has ruled the country for almost 14 years. Gabon has no constitutional term limits on the presidency.
The 64-year-old president officially announced in July that he would run for president again.
The incumbent head of state was first elected in 2009. He later won the 2016 presidential election with 5,500 more votes than his rival Jean Pin, who claimed vote fixing.
Bongo's leading rivals for the post include the former Minister of Oil, Mining and Hydrocarbons Alexandre Barro Chambrier from the opposition Rally for the Fatherland and Modernity party and the National Union's head Paulette Missambo.
Other contenders are Raymond Ndong Sima, a former prime minister, and Pierre-Claver Maganga Moussavou, the Social Democratic Party’s founder and leader.
Campaigning for the presidential election will begin on August 11 and voting will be held on August 26.
In April, the Gabonese parliament voted to amend the constitution and reduce the president's term from seven to five years.