1st African Scout Jamboree, Nigeria

Mali issued three airmail commemoratives at Bamako on 14 June 1976 for the 1st African Scout Jamboree in Nigeria. Each stamp is inscribed REPUBLIQUE DU MALI, POSTE AERIENNE and 1ER JAMBOREE SCOUT AFRICAIN NIGERIA, and carries a Scout fleur-de-lis. Georges Bétemps designed and engraved the set. The Imprimerie des Timbres-Poste, Paris, printed it in recess, comb perforated 13, in panes of ten (two by five, with gutter pairs).

The 140 franc, upright at 31.5 × 52 mm, shows two Scouts hiking with staffs and maps; smaller figures appear behind them. It is signed BETEMPS. The 180 franc, landscape at 52 × 31.5 mm, shows two Scouts treating a small antelope beside a first-aid box marked with a red cross, with tents in the camp. The 200 franc, again upright at 31.5 × 52 mm, shows two Scouts in silhouette on a rocky hill — one standing with a staff and pennant, the other sitting — against an orange sun or moon. It is likewise signed BETEMPS.

Accounts differ on whether the jamboree itself took place in 1976 or in 1977. The stamps date the event only by the inscription Nigeria.

The three values also exist imperforate.