The Nigerian passport
Nigeria drops to 98th in global passport ranking, below Niger, Chad, Zimbabwe, Uganda, others
Nigerian passport has been ranked 98th out of 199 countries in a new report released by Henley & Partners, a London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm.
Though Nigeria jumped up by five places compared to the Q4 2021 rankings, Malawi (76th), Niger (90th), Chad (90th) The Gambia (75th), Uganda (76th), Zimbabwe (78th) and Sierra Leone (80th), all ranked above the West African giants and Ethiopia, which tallied at 98th.
The Nigerian passport is, however, placed above Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
From the current ranking, the Nigerian passport now ranks below those of Malawi, Niger, Chad, Zimbabwe, Uganda and The Gambia as indicated in the quarterly passport index which is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest database of travel information.
The Q1 2022 index cross-examined the passports of 199 countries with 227 travel destinations; and ranked these passports based on global access and mobility. Each passport is scored based on the number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free. This also applies if passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority upon entry.
While Japan and Singapore topped the ranks with passports gaining access to 192 countries, the United States and the United Kingdom ranked seventh while Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan settled at the bottom five.
The Seychelles passport is the highest in Africa, having visa-free access to 152 countries. Botswana and Namibia rank second and third, respectively, with access to 86 and 78 countries.
