Simplify the following text for a Grade 8 native English-speaking person.
Original: The city was founded in 1889 in what was then the French colony Haut-Oubangui ( ` Upper Ubangi ' ) , later renamed Oubangui-Chari and made part of French Equatorial Africa .
Simplified: The city was founded in 1889 in what was then the French colony Haut-Oubangui ( ` Upper Ubangi ' ) . The colony was later renamed Oubangui-Chari and made part of French Equatorial Africa .