Ugandan evangelist Apolo Kivebulaya established the Anglican presence in Zaire in 1896. The Church reached the Shaba region in 1955, but evangelization did not progress on a large scale until the 1970s. Following independence, the Church expanded and formed dioceses as part of the Province of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Boa-Zaire. The new Province was inaugurated in 1992 and changed its name in 1997.