REPRESENTATIVES from member countries of the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU) are meeting to deliberate on various issues related to postal services in Africa at the United Nations Conference Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.The meeting which kicked off on Wednesday discusses philately and also deals with challenges of illegal postage stamp issues among other topics. A discussion on Thursday noted that there is a continued proliferation of illegal stamps in many African countries. It was noted that the illegal acts regarding stamps continued to affect countries amid numerous efforts over the past decade, since the 1999 Beijing Congress to fight the threat at various levels.According to the information obtained from the discussion of the meeting, the greed of some rouge stamp agents and printers and other private companies, lack of integrity within the postal system, and non-adherence to stamp issuing ethics and guidelines are among the several reasons for the problem. Lack of appropriate tools and resources to take the necessary measures against the problem, lack of awareness and adequate knowledge about the extent of the problem among the philatelic community and the key stakeholders in the value chain are also the reasons for the problemAt the 10-day meeting, which goes to July 14, the participants are expected to deliberate on such topics and also on ways of solving the challenges and problems against the postal industry in Africa. Xinhua