'Oil, diamonds, but no work': Angola hopes for change in key vote

In an opposition stronghold of the Angolan capital Luanda, dozens of voters queue up to cast their ballots.

They are hoping not just that the tightly fought election will change their fortunes, but are also here for a glimpse of presidential hopeful Adalberto Costa Junior.

The charismatic 60-year-old was due to cast his vote at a polling station on the corner of a dusty alley, between concrete block houses and small shops in Luanda's working-class Nova Vida district.

Around 33 percent of Angolans are aged between 10 and 24, according to UN data, and millions of young people have high expectations for the election.

"Young people are the future of the country. We have oil, diamonds, but people have no work," said Manuel Antonio Teca, an unemployed 27-year-old.

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"I'm really annoyed," he said, waiting in line to cast his ballot.

"This country is not doing well, we need change. We need Adalberto Costa Junior to become our president".

Costa Junior, leader of the main opposition UNITA, has wowed disgruntled young voters, and poses the greatest challenge to the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which has ruled the oil- and gem -ich country for nearly 50 years.

He is up against MPLA leader and incumbent President Joao Lourenco, who is widely respected abroad for his economic reforms and as a peace mediator in the central African region.

Analysts say the MPLA is facing its most serious challenge since the country's first multiparty vote in 1992.

A talented orator, Costa Junior has captivated young urban voters with pledges to reform government and tackle poverty and corruption -- though experts have been less convinced by the opposition's manifesto.

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Around 14.7 million people are registered to vote in national elections at 13,200 polling stations across the vast southern African country.

'Adalberto, president!'

Most people in Nova Vida support Costa Junior's party and think victory is within reach.

"We have to believe in it," said Joaquim, a 29-year-old who gave only his first name as he waited for his turn to vote.

Older people were the first to cast their ballots at the polling station, while the young looked on and chatted, leaning against breeze blocks walls.

"Did you vote, mum?" one asked an elderly woman.

"Yes, my son!" she answered, raising her finger to show a blue ink mark on her fingertip.

About an hour and a half after polls opened, there was a stir among the voters.

"He has arrived! Adalberto, president!" some shouted.

The opposition leader walked out of a car, surrounded by a crowd of security guards, aides and feverish supporters, and cast his vote.

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"This is a historic day," he told journalists.

Source: AFP