There was much continuity with the earlier English church (Dioceses were reorganised, and new ones created, but much of the senior clergy remained the same, abbeys were dissolved, but some were raised to the status of cathedrals, at Peterborough for instance the last abbot became the first bishop), and under Henry the church retained a largely catholic identity.  It was under Edward that a more Protestant character appeared, due to those who dominated his governemtn (edward was under age).  Of course under Mary the pendulum swung (violently) back the other way, and Elizabeth's position attemoted to reach a compromise.  To some extent that broke down under Charles I, and of course under the Commonwealtha presbyterian polity was adopted, but with the Restoration returned the bishops.  High Church and Low Church had slightly different connotations then, and what we would now recognise as Anglo-Catholicism emerged in the 19th century (along with more evangelical groups such as the Clapham Set).

As to Africa, it often depends which missionary society was most active in a given region, and who set up the theological colleges and so on.  As can be seen from the make up of GAFCON, Nigeria and Uganda have strong Evangelical leadership.