The pandemic came with new difficulties to travelling and exploring the world. It made us question what capabilities do we have as Africans to tour the world if you are from Africa while holding an African passport. Which African passport is the most powerful when it comes to freedom and access in 2021?
The closure of borders to contain the coronavirus lead to the rapid drop in global mobility, leading to an all time low in the World Openness Score (WOS), or the measure to assess the openness of the world based on visa-free travel agreements, according to the Arton Capital Passport Index 2021.
Passport Index said that this year the African country with the most powerful passport in 2021 is Seychelles. The island ranks first with a score of 89. Visa-free travel to 59 countries, visa on-arrival in 30 countries and visa required countries at 109.
Here’s a list of African countries’ passport ranking from the most powerful to the least access in mobility in 2021.
- Seychelles
- Mauritius
- South Africa
- Botswana
- Lesotho
- Namibia
- Tunisia
- Malawi
- Zambia
- Eswatini
- Tanzania
- Kenya
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Cape Verde
- Rwanda
- Zimbabwe
- Uganda
- Morocco
- Sao tome and Principe
- Sierra Leone
- Cote d’iviore (ivory coast)
- Mozambique
- Senegal
- Burkina Faso
- Benin
- Algeria
- Madagascar
- Gabon
- Guinea-bissau
- Mauritania
- Angola
- Niger
- Togo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Guinea
- Cameroon
- Burundi
- Mali
- Comoros
- Liberia
- Chad
- Djibouti
- Nigeria
- South Sudan
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Libya
- Sudan
- Ethiopia
- Eritrea
- Somalia
READ MORE: Passport Index 2021: Germany holds the most powerful passport in 2021
Source: Financial Express, Arton Capital Passport Index 2021
