A recent reshuffle of the Henley Passport Index has pushed the South African passport’s power down from its previous global ranking of 50 to 52. This year the top three placeholders for Africa are the Seychelles, Mauritius, and South Africa – but the Seychelles and Mauritius are the only Africa countries that have shown positive growth in over a decade.
Seychelles now ranks at number 25 and Mauritius at number 31.
The top ranking in the world has also changed hands as Japan has pushed Singapore down to second place, thanks to gaining visa-free access to Myanmar this month.
Japan now has visa-free access to 190 countries, versus 189 for Singapore.
Dr. Christian H. Kälin, Group Chairman of Henley & Partners, commented on these developments: “The Henley Passport Index, which is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), is an important tool for measuring not only the relative strength of the world’s passports but also the extraordinary results that states can achieve when they work hand in hand with their global peers to build a more interconnected and collaborative world. China and the UAE exemplify this kind of progress, with both states among the highest overall climbers compared to 2017, purely as a result of the strong relationships they have built with partner countries around the world.”
Other African countries featured in the top hundred include, Namibia (69), Swaziland (73) Kenya (73), Malawi (73), Ghana (78), Morocco (80), Rwanda (87), Liberia (94), Nigeria (94) among others.
Picture: Pexels/Henley & Partners