In 1894 Portugal granted the Nyassa Company permission to administer a portion of northern Mocambique which included the right to issue its own stamps.

Stamps were issued which were printed in England but as the terms of the lease stated that the stamps were to be printed in Portugal, most of the stamps were destroyed. The first real stamps of the Nyassa Company were issued in 1898. The first issue of stamps was a Mocambique issue overprinted Nyassa and the second was overprinted both “Mocambique” and “Nyassa”.

From 1901 the Nyassa Company arranged to issue its own stamps. Stamps of two designs were printed, both with a portrait of King Carlos, one including a giraffe and the other including a pair of dromedary camels. In 1903, every one of the 13 stamps was printed with the central picture inverted. These stamps were very popular with collectors, so much so that the printing company printed 20 sheets of each error.

Portugal terminated the lease with the Nyassa Company in 1929 and thereafter stamps of Mocambique were issued.