I’m way, way confused as to how all that works. It seems you have the Church of England; and the Anglicans; and the Episcopalians. The Episcopalians seem to have the same beliefs as the CofE but don’t recognize the authority of the CoE over them; then you have the African Anglican Bishops; who seem in full communion with the CoE… AAGGHH.
The Church of England is the original Anglican church. Because it is a state church, it has always been confined to England and England’s colonies. When those colonies became independent, the Church of England in the colonies became autonomous Anglican churches.
In the United States, because it was founded in revolution against England, the church is called “Episcopal” because that name was less controversial. An Anglican and an Episcopalian are the same exact thing; its just Episcopal is the more common term in the US.
In Canada, Australia and other places, they just named it the “Anglican Church of X”. (Except for Scotland, they named their Anglican church the Scottish Episcopal Church since they didn’t want to sound too English either).
All of the Anglican churches are independent of each other. But they do acknowledge a common heritage originating in the Church of England.
The actions of the US Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada have caused some Anglican Churches in Africa to distance themselves from those North American churches. In fact, the African bishops were instrumental in helping the Anglican Church in North America form. The ACNA is a conservative alternative to the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada, but it is not a part of the Anglican Communion.
Anglicans in Africa would mostly consider themselves in “impaired communion” with the US Episcopal Church.
. Thanks!