- Visit date: 29 January 2024
- Post offices visited: Niger Poste headquarters in Niamey and Niamey Balafon Post Office
- Cost of sending a postcard: International postal services were suspended at the time of our visit.
- Where to buy postcards: Souvenir shop at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Niamey.
Our visit to Niamey took place six months after the coup d’état (July 26, 2023). Former President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown, and the new president, Abdourahamane Tiani, is backed by the military. French forces had left Niger about a month earlier. The country was still searching for a new path to function effectively as a nation.
Niamey itself was peaceful, and since we weren’t from France, we were treated with friendliness
We started our search for postcards during the city tour. The souvenir sellers spread the word that someone was looking to buy a lot of postcards. As a result, during our city tour, men on motorcycles stopped by us at various locations, offering their postcards. Most of these postcards were old and in very poor condition, many depicting neighboring countries. They knew how to ask for a price – from 80 cents to 12 Euros, converted to euros. However, the quality-to-price ratio was so bad that we only bought four. Later, upon arriving at our hotel, the Radisson Blu Niamey, and after the hotel shop finally opened, we discovered a decent selection of beautiful postcards for $1.50 each.
We visited the Niamey main post office and the philatelic department. Following recent events, the post office was only operating domestically. We were advised to send postcards through DHL, as it offered international service. We expressed our desire to have only cancellation stamps on our prepared postcards. We had acquired most of the stamps from a philatelic aftermarket in Europe.
At the main post office, we were escorted to a back office to meet the supervisor. He seemed eager to help but was hesitant to provide a stamp. He suggested that if we purchased postcards from them, they would be obliged to stamp them. We had been looking for local postcards, so we readily agreed. However, it turned out they didn’t have any postcards to offer. We were willing to pay for the service, but it seemed he also had a superior who was unavailable. Although our excellent guide did everything he could to help us, we left the post office without achieving our goal.
We decided to try another post office, Niamey Balafon, and this time things went much more smoothly.
We were invited into the back office, where we sat around a desk, chatting and laughing with the postal workers. My colourful hijab, bought at the local market earlier that day, seemed to cause particular amusement.
Andry’s enthusiasm for stamps and postmarks was contagious. Before long, we were even allowed to use the cancellation stamp ourselves, carefully stamping every single one of our postcards.
We still couldn’t send them internationally from Niger, but at least we left with a complete set of genuine local postmarks. Not quite the result we had expected, but certainly a much happier ending to our postal adventure.
But time in Niamey was limited, and soon it was time to move on. With a small stack of stamped postcards and many unanswered questions about the country’s future, we left the city knowing we had seen only a fragment of Niger — but a fragment we won’t forget.
NEWS FROM 26.April 2024– International Post service works again! COMMUNIQUÉ, 26 April 2024: NIGER POSTE porte à la connaissance de son aimable clientèle la reprise du Courrier International (Afrique, Europe, USA, Asie, reste du monde). Pour plus d’informations rendez-vous dans nos agences ou appelez le (00227) 97970225. NIGER POSTE, un monde mieux servi.
I wrote a more detailed account of our trip, encompassing three countries Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, in Estonian: Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria.
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