Tag: Rwanda stamp

I do like victory lap stamps like the type the British often do just before when they send a colony off on it’s own. They show achievements left for the country. Belgium didn’t do such stamps for Rwanda. Getting out of Africa would not have seemed like a victory. But there were small ones, like leaving the capital Kigali with sustainable, non polluting hydroelectric electricity. Luckily Rwanda itself showed off what was done. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This is a big well printed stamp for 1967. Why not a modern hydroelectric plant is not what  you would expect to find in 1960s Africa where there was nothing resembling a power grid as such. Remember all of same era machinations in Egypt to get someone else to pay for the Aswan Dam they desired on the Nile.

Todays stamp is issue A33 a 20 Centimes stamp issued by Rwanda on March 6th, 1967. It was a 6 stamp issue showing off the Ntaruka power plant coexisting  with area fauna. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether used or unused.

There was very little electricity in Rwanda during colonial times. Belgium had intended to make a profit on their African colonies so no investment was made without a quick rate of return. That changed a little toward the end. Two hydroelectric plants were built on the Mukungua and the Rusizi Rivers in the late 1950s to supply electricity at least to the capital.

Power generation has not been a strength of Rwanda. Even in 2019 only 51 percent of Rwandans have access to electricity. 90% of the energy for cooking in the country comes from burning firewood. There were no new power plants built in Rwanda between 1959 and 1982. The troubles of the mid 1990s lead to output falling to below the level of colonial days. This is even worse than it sounds as the population was growing very fast having tripled since independence.

The situation has begun to improve in this century. Three new hydroelectric power plants have come on line since 2010 and there are projects for four more. There are also new thermal power plants coming along that seek to extract natural gas dissolved in Lake Kivu. A domestically sourced coal fired electric station has also recently come on line. There is some solar but this is mainly solar panels on roofs of buildings that have no other power to access. The Government hopes to be able to offer electricity to 100% of the people by 2024. Most of the new power plants are owned by the Rwandan government and built and financed by China.

Well my drink is empty. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020,

Rwanda was a newly independent country in the 1960s. Why not have a social, business, and charitable organization to mobilize young business leaders. Rwanda picked the British one, whose moto is adopt, adapt, and improve. Not a bad motto for a new country. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and in special honour of the young up and comers, go rafting after learning to make sushi. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This is a good looking issue of stamps. The roundtable emblem shows the local variation for the chapter in Kigali and the African wild animals show the where the money went for the annual charity event of the club. Imagine the first young fellows putting together the club in exotic Kigali. How full of hope they must have been.

Todays stamp is issue A37, a 20 Centime stamp issued by independent Rwanda on July 31st, 1967. It was a 6 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents unused. Rwanda’s last stamp issue, on gorillas, was in 2010 and the authorities have declared many more recent issues unauthorized and illegal. That includes a two souvenir sheet issue of nine stamps each on Rwandan pornography. It may be fake but there is a stamp collecting story that needs telling.

The first Round Table Club was founded in 1926 by Englishman, of Irish mother and Swiss father, Louis Marchesi. He was a young businessman interested in networking  and belonged to the Rotary Club. He didn’t feel the Rotarians were enough focused on the younger members that were also interested in adventures and available at night. Marchesi came up with the goal of adopt-adapt-improve as shown on this stamp and inspired when Marchesi heard the then Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, say at a trade show that the young men of Britain need to gather around the table  to solve the Empire’s problems. The group was only open to males under 40 and met once a fortnight in a pub. Their wives were allowed to join the ladies circle. On the March after a member’s 40th birthday, they were retired from the club, although many local affiliates have 41 clubs for their former retired members and the tangent club for their wives. After World War II the club began to have international tables and is currently in over 60 countries. By keeping the membership young, the club can over more adventure based events while keeping up the annual charity aspect. The Duke of Edinburg was until recently the Royal Patron.

The Round Table club is no more in Rwanda. It is possible there is still a 41 club of former members that aged out as the organization says that many of those no longer stay in touch. There is still an active Round Table chapter in neighboring Tanzania. There might be hope for a recovery in Rwanda. It has made some progress economically since the 90s civil war. They have even recently joined the British Commonwealth. Though Rwanda was colonized first by Germany and later Belgium, there was a short period of British occupation during World War I. This made Rwanda eligible for the Commonwealth and their application was approved.

Well my drink is empty. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

The wildlife of the Kagera National Park as ebbed and flowed due to disease, poaching, and farmer intrusion. Numbers are flowing again thanks to an investment from a Warren Buffet heir and the leadership of an NGO with the artist formerly known as Prince Harry at the helm. What could go wrong? So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This is a particularly well drawn and printed wildlife at Kagera National Park issue especially when you consider it dates from 1965. It is the work of J van Notem and printed by De La Rue.

Todays stamp is issue A17, a 20 Centimes stamp issued by independent Rwanda on April 28th, 1965. It was a 10 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether used or unused as this one.

The Kagera National Park was set aside for protection by the then Belgian colonial authorities in 1934. It is named for the Kagera River that runs through it. In the time since this stamp, the park has added an A to the beginning of it’s name. The park is over 970 square miles and thus is the largest protected wetland in central Africa.

At first wildlife in the park was most famous for a huge herd of African wild dogs sometimes called painted dogs or Lycaon. They were so numerous the Belgians thought them a pest. In the 1970s the herd was gradually thinned by disease and the dog was last seen at the park in 1984. They were still numerous enough to earn a stamp in this 1965 issue.

The next big challenge for the park came in the aftermath of the 1994 civil war between the Hutu and Tutsi tribe. As refugee farmers returned to the country, apparently they chose not to return to their own farms but rather set up shop in the park. This was the end of the lions and the rhinos. All the herds took a hit and by 2010 the park was in pretty pathetic shape.

At that point a deal was struck to subcontract out the park to a non government organization called the African Parks Network based out of South Africa and since 2017 having former Prince Harry has President. The group got a 10 million dollar contribution from Howard Buffet, an heir of Warren. The group employs 1100 park rangers to work in the 18 parks they run in Africa. You can guess that this is mainly about offering safaris to tourists but tourists want to be able to see some animals so the group as arraigned the donation of lions from European zoos. In the politically correct fashion, this is marketed as returning lions from where they were stolen. The Parks Network also managed to get some rhinos from South Africa.

Tourism to the park has gone up 8 fold since the Parks Network took over Akagera not so National Park. This makes them 80% self sufficient. They can’t ever get to 100% because how then would they get another donation from Howard Buffet so he can see his name up there with Warren and Jimmy.

This stamp is about the still existing zebras so I thought you might like to see an embroidery by a group of female artisans from the Rwandan village of Rutongo. You can check out and buy more of their work at http://rutongoembroideries.com.

Well my drink is empty and I suppose I should be toasting former Prince Harry for his work with the African Parks Network. I will hold off, it smells like a bunch of rich boys who just enjoy Safaris. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.