Associação de Escuteiros de Angola the Southern Zone of the Africa Region. Although Scouting is growing, the country is plagued by years of civil war and political unrest, and this is hindering development, especially in rural areas. Angolan Scouting was widespread in the colonial years, working closely with Portugal's Catholic Corpo Nacional de Escutas. When Angola gained its independence in 1975 and came under Marxist rule, Scouting was banned by that government. Scouting was officially started again in February 1991. In 1994, the interreligious "Associação Nacional de Escuteiros" and the Catholic "Associação de Escuteiros Católicos de Angola" merged forming the AEA. Today, Scouting includes an
Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola in significant growth and development in the church. In 1957, the work of the North American Congregational Churches was united and the Council of Evangelical Churches in Angola was founded. In 1975, after the country had gained independence, The Angolan Civil War broke out. The war devastated Angola's infrastructure and severely damaged the nation's public administration, economic enterprises and religious institutions. The war forced foreign missionaries to leave the country. The church was divided into two parts; rural and urban. During and after the war, the church remained divided into the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola and the Evangelical Reformed