There seems to be quite a thirst for faith these days in Angola, which abandoned Marxism in the 1990s after three decades of civil war and is now experiencing a boom in religious sects that often mix traditional African belief in witchcraft with elements of the Christianity brought by the Portuguese colonialists.

Some 900 religious groups are waiting for the official registration required by the government, which has launched a campaign to stamp out illegal sects in the capital Luanda and provinces bordering Democratic Republic of Congo where witchcraft is believed to be widespread. Last week, an ailing 28-year-old woman died when her sect barred her from seeking medical treatment and 40 children were rescued from two other religious groups that accused them of possesing evil powers.

Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento, the leading Catholic cleric in this mostly Catholic country, told Reuters in an interview (full story here) that he saw a bright side to the sect boom: "The positive side of this phenomenon is that it shows there is an increasing thirst for God. But those who are thirsty need to seek the right fountain: the one without the spoilt water."

The Roman Catholic Church has also grown since in the early 1990s, but is increasingly being challenged by evangelical churches and these syncretic sects, often supported by poor people lacking jobs and education. Maybe the cardinal shouldn't be so optimistic after all?

Angola's last election led to the resumption of civil war that took another decade to end and cost countless lives.

This time the atmosphere  around the election is very different, despite some initial problems at voting stations - scores failed to open on time in Luanda, which could lead to an extension of voting.

The ruling MPLA won the war in 2002 when UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi was killed. His former rebel group has now been transformed into a political party, but it is given little chance of electoral success and is unable to do much but complain the campaign has been unfair.

Angola is one of the world's fastest growing economies thanks to booming oil production - not that much of the wealth has trickled down to the two-thirds of Angolans who live on less than $2 a day.

The election is being touted by Angola's government as a demonstration of how far the country has come from the civil war and an example in Africa after flawed elections elsewhere.

But the MPLA's electoral dominance meant the contest was very one-sided and there appears little chance of a dispute on the scale of those that led to the troubles in Kenya and Zimbabwe, where election results were close.

The election is undoubtedly a big step for Angola. How significant will it prove for Africa as a whole?