Nigerian passport among least powerful in the world in 2021

The Nigerian passport has been ranked as one of the least powerful globally this year, according to the Henley Passport Index.

London-based Henley & Partners receives exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) to form the basis of its ranking the passport strength of nearly 200 countries.

The total score for each passport is equal to the number of destinations for which no visa is required.

Nigeria was ranked 103rd, alongside Ethiopia, for the final quarter of 2021.

The Nigerian passport grants holders visa-free access to only 45 countries, only one more than holders of the South Sudanese passport.

The passport has fallen 19 places from 83rd place in 2011 to 103rd this year, one of the biggest drops over the past decade.

Seychelles, in 29th position, is the highest ranked African country on the global list, with visa-free access to 153 countries.

Other African passports that finished ahead of the Nigerian passport on the ranking are South Africa (58th), Botswana (67th), Namibia (73rd), Lesotho (74th), eSwatini (75th), Malawi (76th), Kenya (77th), Tanzania (77th), Tunisia (78th), Zambia (78th), The Gambia (80th), Uganda (81st), Cape Verde (82nd), Zimbabwe (84th), and Ghana (84th).

Passport holders in Morocco (85th), Sierra Leone (85th), Mozambique (86th), Benin (87th), Rwanda (87th), São Tomé and Príncipe (88th), Mauritania (89th), Burkina Faso (90th), Gabon (91st), Cote d'Ivoire (92nd), Senegal (92nd), Equatorial Guinea (93rd), and Madagascar (93rd) also have visa-free access to more countries than Nigerians.

Other African countries that finished above Nigeria are Guinea (94th), Mali (94th), Togo (94th), Chad (95th), Comoro Islands (95th), Niger (95th), Algeria (96th), Central African Republic (96th), Guinea-Bissau (96th), Burundi (97th), Egypt (97th), Angola (98th), Cameroon (98th), Burundi (99th), Republic of the Congo (100th), and Djibouti (101st).

"The global mobility gap is at its widest point ever and continues to expand due to proliferating barriers to entry erected since the outbreak of the pandemic," the report noted.

Japan and Singapore have the most powerful passports, according to the index, with visa-free access to 192 countries, followed by Germany and South Korea, joint second with visa-free access to 190 countries.

Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Spain, are joint third with visa-free access to 189 countries; and Austria and Denmark close out the top 10, finishing joint fourth with visa-free access to 188 countries.

Afghanistan finished bottom of the ranking with visa-free access to only 26 countries.

The Henley Passport Index covers 227 different travel destinations, and is regularly updated.