The original Jewish DEREKH first arrived in Sub Saharan Africa in the Axum of Kingdom in what is now the Tigray province of Ethiopia before 100 CE. This Derekh remained closed to the Tigray region but was poorly administered. As a result of this weakness, much later in 330 CE, The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Egypt, set up the formal church called ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH in 330 CE and managed it until 1948 CE during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie.
Arab North Africa, also known as Arab Maghreb, received DEREKH faith much earlier and was fully evangelised by 150 CE. Three Berber Arabs from present day Algeria and Tunisia were even elected and served as Popes of the Roman Catholic church in Rome. These were Pope Victor 1 (189-199 CE), Pope Miltiades (311-314 CE), and Pope Gelasius 1 (492-496). These popes are often called ‘African Popes’ because they all came from the Roman Province of Africa Proconsularis which covered present day Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. Arab Christianity was extinguished by Islam which started in Mecca, present day Saudi Arabia, in 610 CE and proceeded, mostly by war, to conquer and delete Derekh faith (called Christianity by Greeks).
Addressing Sub Saharan Africa however, Derekh, then called Christianity, was brought by Portuguese Roman Catholic church from about 1450 CE along the West African coast. The Roman Catholic Church was the main player in the Evangelisation of SSA, but evangelisation initiatives were taken by individual countries and groups, not the Vatican head office.
Derekh faith in SSA has however gone from its peak in 1850 to 1950 CE when it had real devoted believers, to its present situation where it has become mere public relations or a smoke screen for people to pause as religious while pursuing worldly objectives. The continuing fragmentation of the religion into hundreds of separate institutions and over 30,000 private churches is reflective of its current status. as being merely, a platform for public relations and trickery.