Nigeria Passport Ranks 103 On World's Most Powerful List

The global gap in travel freedoms has never been wider, says the latest report by London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners.

It says that increasing travel barriers that have been introduced over the past 18 months of the Covid pandemic have resulted in the widest global mobility gap in the index's 16-year history.

The index doesn't take temporary restrictions into account, so leaving actual current travel access aside, holders of the passports at the top of its ranking -- Japan and Singapore -- are able, in theory, to travel visa-free to 192 destinations.

That's 166 more destinations than Afghan nationals, who sit at the bottom of the index of 199 passports, and can access just 26 countries without requiring a visa in advance.

The Nigeria International Passport has ranked below the likes of Ghana, Liberia, Guinea, Mali, and others in the list of the World’s Most Powerful Passports which was ranked based on the travel-friendly passports across the globe.

Nigeria Passport is ranked at 103 positions with 45 scores out of 116 in the world while other Africa nations like Ghana sits at 84 positions, Guinea and Mali shares same position at 94 while Liberia 99 position.

Tanzanian passport ranked 77 among the world’s most powerful passports, according to the latest report which assesses the influence of global travel documents.

According to research conducted by Henley site, the Tanzanian passport grants a holder access to 72 countries globally without the requirement of paying for a visa.

Tanzania is tied with Kenya on the 77 slot, with both countries having a national passport which allows a holder to gain access to 72 countries without a visa on entry.

The two East African nations are ahead of their neighbours, with Uganda coming in third at number 81 with a passport that allows its holder to enter into 67 territories visa-free.

Rwanda is 87 with holders of its passport gaining entry into 61 countries without a visa, while Burundi is placed 97 with 51 countries globally accepting holders of its passport to enter without visa payment. Zambia is ranked 78, a slot behind Tanzania with access to 71 countries without a visa. While the DRC is 106 with access to 42 countries.

Europe dominates

Further down the top 10, the rankings remains virtually unchanged as we enter the final quarter of 2021. South Korea is tied with Germany in second place (with a score of 190) and Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain are all together in third place (with a score of 189).

EU countries dominate the top of the list as usual, with Austria and Denmark in fourth place and France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden in fifth place.

New Zealand, which announced this week that it was moving away from its Covid-19 elimination strategy in favor of a vaccine certificate system, is in sixth place alongside Belgium and Switzerland.

The United States and the United Kingdom, which held the top spot together back in 2014, are now more modestly placed in the rankings. They are at No. 7, alongside the Czech Republic, Greece, Malta and Norway, with visa-free or visa-on-demand access to 185 destinations.

Australia and Canada are in eighth place, Hungary is ninth, and Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia have together broken into the No.10 spot, with a score of 182.

'Growing inequalities'

The Henley & Partners report points to "growing inequalities" and makes the suggestion that "restrictive policies initially introduced to contain the spread of Covid-19 are now being conveniently applied to contain mobility from the global south."

Mehari Taddele Maru, a fellow at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies, comments in the report that, “The global north has been enforcing aggressive migration containment strategies for some time now through the rigid application of border controls, undermining the movement of persons in various ways.

“Covid-19-associated travel restrictions are new additions to the toolbox of migration containment instruments employed by the global north to curb mobility from the global south.”

Christian H. Kaelin, chair of Henley & Partners and creator of the passport index concept, says that these decisions could have far-reaching consequences.

“If we want to restart the global economy, it is critical that developed nations encourage inward migration flows, as opposed to persisting with outmoded restrictions,” he says. “Resourceful countries need to futureproof their economies by attracting and welcoming the upcoming generation.”

The best passports to hold in 2021 are:

1. Japan, Singapore (192 destinations)
2. Germany, South Korea (190)
3. Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain (189)
4. Austria, Denmark (188)
5. France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden (187)
6. Belgium, New Zealand, Switzerland (186)
7. Czech Republic, Greece, Malta, Norway, United Kingdom, United States (185)
8. Australia, Canada (184)
9. Hungary (183)
10. Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia (182)

The worst passports to hold

Several countries around the world have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to fewer than 40 countries. These include:

109. North Korea (39 destinations)

110. Nepal and Palestinian territories (37)

111. Somalia (34)

112. Yemen (33)

113. Pakistan (31)

114. Syria (29)

115. Iraq (28)

116. Afghanistan (26)

Other indexes

Henley & Partner's list is one of several indexes created by financial firms to rank global passports according to the access they provide to their citizens.

The Henley Passport Index covers 227 travel destinations. It is updated in real time throughout the year, as and when visa policy changes come into effect.

Arton Capital's Passport Index takes into consideration the passports of 193 United Nations member countries and six territories -- ROC Taiwan, Macau (SAR China), Hong Kong (SAR China), Kosovo, Palestinian Territory and the Vatican. Territories annexed to other countries are excluded.

Its late-2021 index has the United Arab Emirates in in the top spot, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 152. 

October 19, 2021