- 1952-02-01 —
Eric Manton and his son Terry arrived in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), the first Bahá'ís to settle in the country. They settled in the Copperbelt region from where he was able to raise a number of native believers who took the Faith to other parts of Zambia. [A Brief Account of the Bahá'í Faith in Africa Since 1953 by Nance Ororo-Robarts and Selam Ahderrom p2]
- The first local convert was Christopher Mwitumwa in 1954. [Wikipedia]
- 1963-04-20 — The number of believers in East and Central Africa numbered well over 40.000 with half of these in the Congo. Similar growth could be seen in countries like British Cameroons, Ethiopia, and Northern Rhodesia. Bahá'ís now resided in well over 30 countries and territories, and consisted largely of tribal peoples that had entered the Faith through the combined efforts of international and native pioneers. The end of the Ten Year Crusade left Africa spiritually and politically transformed. Devoted individuals, operating in daunting conditions, had succeeded in establishing the Faith on the continent while preparing for the next phase in its advancement—continued large-scale expansion would be accompanied by the formation and strengthening of the foundational institutions of the Faith. [A Brief Account of the Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in Africa Since 1953 by Nancy Oloro-Robarts and Selam Ahderom p6-7]
- 1964-04-21 —
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of South and West Africa that was formed in 1956, was altered and two additional national assemblies were formed, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Indian Ocean,(Mauritius, Réunion and Madagascar) and the National Spiritual Assembly of South Central Africa and leaving the altered South and West Africa leaving only Angola, Basutoland, St. Helena, South West Africa, South Africa and Swaziland.
The National Spiritual Assembly of South Central Africa was formed with its seat in Salisbury had jurisdiction over the following countries: Northern Rhodesia, Malawi (formerly changed in 1964 from Nyasaland), Southern Rhodesia, and Botswana (formerly Bechuanaland; name changed in 1966).
[BW14p96; BW15:195; BN no608 November 1981 p11]
- The National Spiritual Assembly of the Indian Ocean included Mauritius, the Chagos Archipelago, Madagascar, the Malagasy Republic, Seychelles, Comoros and Réunion. [BN no608 November 1981 p11]
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