Emmerson Mnangagwa sworn in as Zimbabwe's president
Mnangagwa returned to Zimbabwe on Wednesday after the ruling ZANU-PF party expelled Mugabe and elected him as its new leader.
Mnangagwa has been serving in government since the 1980s and was appointed as Mugabe’s number two in 2014. He remained in the position until being sacked by Mugabe two weeks ago and then fled for his safety, which is generally thought to be the trigger of the crisis.
The country's roughly week-long political turmoil started as a military takeover, developed along with protesters calling Mugabe to leave office, and finally ended with Mugabe stepping down.
"Come and be an eyewitness of history being made, the historic ushering in (of) a new era and better country," said a statement from the ruling ZANU-PF party calling on people to attend the inauguration.
Buses have been arranged to transport supporters to the 60,000-capacity stadium early on Friday.
Supporters of Zimbabwe's former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa await his arrival in Harare, Zimbabwe. /Reuters Photo
Mnangagwa, 75, said earlier this week that Zimbabweans were witnessing "a new and unfolding full democracy," though critics say he is a ZANU-PF hardliner who gained power in a de facto military coup.
He is known as "The Crocodile" for his ruthlessness and is accused of overseeing ethnic massacres by the army in the 1980s and the 2008 election violence when Mugabe was at risk of losing the vote.
After ruling the country for almost four decades, Mugabe, 93 and in increasingly frail health, had been positioning his wife Grace as his successor, but the army chiefs acted to halt the plan and usher in Mnangagwa.
Second post-independence leader
Ahead of the inauguration, the army warned that criminals had been impersonating soldiers since the crisis to extort money from the public and called on Zimbabweans to obey the law.
Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial power, said it was sending Minister of State for Africa Rory Stewart to the ceremony.
Supporters of Zimbabwe's former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa await his arrival in Harare, Zimbabwe, November 22, 2017. /Reuters Photo
Regional heavyweight South Africa said President Jacob Zuma would not be present as he was hosting a visit by Angola's new head of state.
Zuma praised Mugabe, noting "his contribution to the liberation of the Southern African region and the decolonization of the continent."
Mugabe had ruled since Zimbabwean independence in 1980 but his tenure ended on Tuesday when he submitted a resignation letter to parliament where MPs had convened to impeach him.
Mugabe was last seen in public on Friday and gave a defiant televised address on Sunday.
Neither he nor his wife Grace has been seen since, though they are expected to be given protection by the government.
The main opposition group, the Movement for Democratic Change, said it was "cautiously optimistic" that Mnangagwa would not be as "evil, corrupt, decadent" as Mugabe.
In the week before Mugabe resigned, military vehicles rolled down Harare's streets, army generals made a TV address in the early hours and tens of thousands of Zimbabweans demonstrated against the veteran leader.
Zimbabwe's once-promising economy collapsed under Mugabe's rule, and many hope Mnangagwa will push through reforms to bring in investment.
Unemployment is reportedly at over 90 percent, and in his first speech after being announced as the next president, he promised "jobs, jobs, jobs!"
Economic impact
The main industrial index was at 315.12 points compared with 527.27 points on Wednesday last week when the military announced its takeover and put former president Mugabe under house arrest. On Thursday the index fell 4.4 percent.
The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange had been on a rapid rise in the last two months, driven by investors seeking a safe haven for their investment amid fears of a return to hyperinflation in an economy suffering acute shortages of foreign exchange.
But analysts said the market had entered a period of correction on investor optimism of a change in economic policy in a post-Mugabe era.
Market capitalization was 9 billion US dollars, down from 15 billion US dollars last week, bourse data showed.
On the currency front, black market rates for buying cash dollars softened further on Thursday.
Buying 100 US dollars using electronic transfer cost 150 US dollars, down from 180 dollars last week. Some black market traders said they were not buying dollars at all, anticipating further softening of rates.
Zimbabwe adopted the US dollar in 2009, along with Britain’s pound and the South African rand, to tame inflation that topped out at 500 billion percent.
“The market is adjusting back to reality,” an analyst at a Harare-based asset management company said.
“The gains that we had seen were being fueled by an outlook of a return to hyperinflation, continued isolation of Zimbabwe by international lenders as well as a depressed economic outlook.”