- BotswanaPost participates at the International Philatelic Exhibition
- BotswanaPost teams up with Stampsdaq
- Stamp collecting consistently ranked one of world’s most popular hobbies
In a historic turn of events, Botswana has become the third and only African country to digitise its stamps, Time Out has established.
BotswanaPost will also participate in the first African International Stamp Exhibition in Cape Town from 8 to 12 November.
The event features 1600 frames of stamps from all over the world with each frame comprising 16 A4 pages mounted with stamps and exhibited in different categories such as aero philately, picture postcards, postal history and social philately that brings along stamps and history.
For the stamp collectors
The event will feature a rarities auction that will offer collectors a chance to buy items related to stamps that are extremely hard to get and very sought after, usually at prices that non- philatelists fathom to understand.
Stamps are not only aesthetically pleasing but also have the ability to transport a collector to the past. Each stamp illuminates a story – whether it is its designer, printer, edition or function. It is no surprise that the earliest recorded stamp collection was a Geography instructor’s teaching tool. In some cases more valuable than paintings by the great masters, stamps continue to be a rare commodity.
Even today new collectable stamps are produced. In June this year, the United States Postal Service announced that they would release a James Webb Telescope stamp. Yes, there’s a certain irony to celebrating bleeding-edge astronomy using mail stickers invented in the 19th Century.
The event will include an award granted to the best in show and announced on 12 November. This prestigious award will place one winner as the top collector judged by an international panel from diverse cultures.
What else to expect
Stamp collecting has consistently ranked as one of the world’s most popular hobbies. Collectors can expect a museum-like rotating exhibition of stamps from all over the world, dealers and collectors from more than 40 countries, a curated exhibition by the Post Office Museum, a chance to see rare historical documents and the public is invited to bring along their stamp collections to be evaluated by experts in the field.
BotswanaPost teams up with Stampsdaq
Following its digital transformation and innovation strategy, BotswanaPost signed a cooperation agreement with a European blockchain development company, Stampsdaq Estonia OU, to launch the process of transformation of the country’s historic postage stamp collection, as well as issue new stamps using the NFT technology on stampsdaq.com.
BotswanaPost is joining two other postal operators who are already on Stampsdaq in efforts to develop common, philately dedicated NFT stamps ecosystem.
Said the CEO of BotswanaPost, Cornelius Ramatlhakwane:
“Compared to other postal operators, BotswanaPost is relatively young. The first Botswana postage stamps were issued in 1966, and since then our philatelic developments have been strong, and to-date our historic stamps collection has over 1100 unique stamp motifs.
“Recognising the value and prospects of the innovation, we firmly believe in blockchain solutions for global philately, and in particular for BotswanaPost. Stamps have always been considered ‘the ambassadors’ of the country’s cultural, natural, economical and other achievements to the world.
“With NFT stamps, we aim to create a whole new level of collection experience for all collectors around the world, and Stampsdaq’s business model suits our needs perfectly.”
The CEO of Stampsdaq, Andrii Shapovalov, noted: “At Stampsdaq, we believe that using blockchain and NFT tech to enhance such an established and trusted collectibles market as philately is a perfect opportunity to bridge millions of aging philatelists with their more tech-friendly children and grandchildren, and I am glad that BotswanaPost has decided to join us in this journey.
“The beauty of stamps is that they are a globally known collectible item. On Stampsdaq, we develop and implement different value adding benefits to make the life of NFT stamps collectors much more entertaining and rewarding.”
BotswanaPost is a member of the Pan-African Postal Union (PAPU). It is the second African postal operator to join Stampsdaq platform.
Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between PAPU and Stampsdaq in July 2022, the 45-member countries of the union have given a mandate to Stampsdaq to support them in the African Philatelic Renaissance movement to revive the interest of the greater public to stamps collecting via new, exciting experience.