By Lizzy Chirkpi
Nigeria’s passport has been ranked among the weakest in Africa, placing 90th globally and 45th on the continent in the latest Henley Passport Index, highlighting the country’s limited international travel access compared to many of its African peers.
The latest index, published by global residence and citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners, ranks passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without obtaining a visa in advance. Under the current rankings, Nigerian passport holders enjoy visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to just 44 destinations worldwide.
Commenting on the latest rankings, Chairman of Henley & Partners, Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, said global mobility has become “more unequal than ever,” arguing that the strength of a passport increasingly reflects a country’s diplomatic influence and international relationships.
He said: “Your passport is no longer just a travel document, it is a reflection of your country’s diplomatic influence and international relationships.”
Within Africa, South Africa retained its position as the continent’s strongest passport, followed by Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Morocco, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania and Tunisia. Nigeria ranked 45th, behind several African countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and The Gambia.
According to the Henley Passport Index, passport strength is determined by the number of destinations that citizens can enter without securing a visa before departure, whether through visa-free access or a visa-on-arrival arrangement.
The report noted that countries with stronger passports typically benefit from extensive diplomatic engagement, reciprocal visa-waiver agreements and sustained international cooperation, all of which contribute to greater global mobility for their citizens.
It further observed that while several African countries have improved their travel access through bilateral agreements and regional integration initiatives, Nigeria has yet to record comparable gains in visa-free access.
The latest rankings underscore the widening disparity in travel freedom across Africa, with citizens of the continent’s highest-ranked countries enjoying significantly broader access to international destinations than holders of Nigerian passports.
The Henley Passport Index is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading measures of global travel freedom. Updated periodically using data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), it evaluates 199 passports against 227 travel destinations and is frequently used by governments, businesses and migration experts to assess the relative strength of national passports and global mobility trends.