COVID-19 and African Postage Stamps

Abstract

This paper investigates how African nations have portrayed the COVID-19 pandemic in their postage stamps. After an introduction, a timeline offering short descriptions of global editions of this theme from its inception until March 2021 will be established. The timeline will consider most issues to the above date, with the caveat that additional examples might still be found, and that more will no doubt be produced after the publication of this paper, as the pandemic persists. Major design types will then be determined based on the preceding information. Then various publications related to Africa will be discussed. These primarily concern the so-called ‘Stamperijia’ issues, produced in Lithuania, and then bogus stamps produced in the name of various African countries. Apart from the ‘Stamperijia’ and similar issues, it is noted that only two African nations have produced a COVID-19-themed stamp on the continent itself up to 20 March 2021. The implications of this will be discussed in the conclusion, with suggestions for future action.

Keywords:

• Africa
• COVID-19
• postage stamps
• representation
• nation states
• philately
• national identity

Notes

1 See Shaw 67.

2 See Jochim, ‘New Issues’ for a translation of the official China Post press release.

3 For full-length treatment of this theme, see Furukawa.

4 Gazay gives a good overview of how these stamps were marketed. In the case of diabetes, see Schuessler.

5 This timeline has been largely established by Jankovič and Jochim (‘Truth, Lies’), though some uncertainty over exact dating still exists. Further technical information, though no analysis, on issues until May 2020 can be found in Cioruţa, Pop and Coman.

6 A bogus issue for Sri Lanka emerged in March 2020. See Jochim.

7 See Jochim, ‘New Issues’.

8 See https://philately.ctt.gov.mo/XVersion/ProductList.aspx?admcode=MAC&emicode=202009&lang=en-us. Accessed on 2 December 2020.

9 See, for instance, Susan Sontag, 97–98.

10 These references are all taken from an article of 8 May in the Morocco World News by Taha Mebtoul.

11 These countries are Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé et Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda. The bulk of this company’s business comes from Africa, as they contract out to only eight other countries worldwide.

12 For all of these sets, I give the Stamperija catalogue numbers.

13 See http://commonwealthstampsopinion.blogspot.com/2020/07/1706-south-sudans-COVID-19-stamps.html. Accessed on 17 November 2020.

14 See http://commonwealthstampsopinion.blogspot.com/2020/07/1697-new-stamps-soon-from-south-sudan.html for more of this debate. Accessed on 10 November 2020.

15 See http://golowesstamps.com/reference/Illegal%20Stamps/Mali%20Illegal%20Stamps/Circular2020_94_upu_circular_en_Mali.pdf. Accessed on 4 December 2020.