The Nigerian passport has been ranked 91st strongest in a world ranking of passports which was dominated by Asian countries. According to the ranking named the Henley Passport Index, holders of Nigerian passports have visa-free access to 47 destinations.
The report ranked Nigeria’s passport low as the 42nd most powerful in Africa, ahead of Burundi, Djibouti, DRC, Ethiopia, Libya and South Sudan, Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia.
“As the world economy has become increasingly globalised, the need for greater visa-free access has grown steadily,” said the report.
Henley & Partners published its 2019 passport index and, once again, the world’s top is dominated by Japan while there is no African country in the world’s top 10.
In Africa, the top 5 is dominated by Seychelles (27th global rank), Mauritius (51st global rank), South Africa (53rd global rank), Botswana (82nd global rank) and Namibia (68th global rank). The bottom 5 is made of Ethiopia (96th global rank), Libya and South Sudan (97th global ranks), Sudan (99th global rank), Eritrea (100th global rank) and Somalia (103rd global rank).
Let’s note that Equatorial Guinea progressed the most with three places gained in this ranking.
Countries linked to terror networks like Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq were bottom of the pile, with their citizens requiring visas to access the majority of countries.
Henley Passport Index is an index of all the passports ranked according to the countries that welcome them without a visa. The data used in the ranking are compiled from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
2019 Henley African passport index
Rank (African) | countries | Number of destinations | Rank (Global) |
1 | Seychelles | 151 | 27 |
2 | Mauritius | 145 | 51 |
3 | South Africa | 101 | 53 |
4 | Botswana | 82 | 62 |
5 | Namibia | 75 | 68 |
6 | Lesotho | 74 | 69 |
7 | Eswatini | 72 | 71 |
8 | Kenya | 71 | 72 |
8 | Malawi | 71 | 72 |
10 | Gambia | 68 | 73 |
10 | Tanzania | 68 | 73 |
10 | Zambia | 68 | 73 |
13 | Tunisia | 66 | 74 |
14 | Cabo Verde | 65 | 75 |
15 | Uganda | 64 | 76 |
16 | Ghana | 63 | 77 |
17 | Sierra-Léone | 62 | 78 |
18 | Benin | 61 | 79 |
18 | Morocco | 61 | 79 |
20 | Mauritania | 58 | 80 |
20 | Mozambique | 58 | 80 |
20 | Sao Tomé and Principe | 58 | 80 |
23 | Burkina-Faso | 57 | 81 |
24 | Côte d’Ivoire | 56 | 82 |
24 | Guinea | 56 | 82 |
24 | Senegal | 56 | 82 |
27 | Gabon | 55 | 83 |
27 | Mali | 55 | 83 |
27 | Togo | 55 | 83 |
30 | Niger | 54 | 84 |
30 | Rwanda | 54 | 84 |
32 | Chad | 53 | 85 |
32 | Guinea Bissau | 53 | 85 |
32 | Madagascar | 53 | 85 |
35 | Comores | 52 | 86 |
36 | Equatorial Guinea | 51 | 87 |
37 | Algeria | 50 | 88 |
38 | Angola | 49 | 89 |
38 | Central Africa | 49 | 89 |
38 | Egypt | 49 | 89 |
41 | Cameroon | 48 | 90 |
42 | Congo | 47 | 91 |
42 | Liberia | 47 | 91 |
42 | Nigeria | 47 | 91 |
45 | Burundi | 46 | 92 |
46 | Djibouti | 45 | 93 |
47 | DRC | 43 | 95 |
48 | Ethiopia | 42 | 96 |
49 | Libya | 41 | 97 |
49 | South Sudan | 41 | 97 |
51 | Sudan | 39 | 99 |
53 | Eritrea | 38 | 100 |
54 | Somalia | 32 | 103 |