Nigerian passport ranked 91st strongest globally

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 (27^th  global rank), Mauritius (51^st global rank), South Africa (53^rd global rank), Botswana (82^nd global rank) and Namibia (68^th global rank). The bottom 5 is made of Ethiopia (96^th global rank), Libya and South Sudan (97^th global ranks), Sudan (99^th global rank), Eritrea (100^th global rank) and Somalia (103^rd 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