African passports: The powerful, the weak and the (now) barred from the US

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On Friday US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that barred citizens of seven nations from accessing a US visa to enter the country, effective immediately. Among these are citizens of the African countries Libya, Sudan and Somalia.

These countries already have some of Africa’s weakest passports, according to the Arton Capital’s Passport Index, which ranks national passports by how easily they can visit other territories – either without a visa or with a visa on arrival. There are only 37 countries globally a Libyan passport has easy access to, while there are 36 for Sudan and 30 for Somalia (which is ranked the country with the weakest passport in Africa and fifth-weakest in the world).

Interestingly these African countries are also some of the world’s least welcoming – meaning they don’t allow many others in visa-free or visa-on-arrival. Somalia is one of only three countries in the world that does not offer any foreign travellers hassle-free entry. Libya only allows three countries (Jordon, Turkey and Tunisia) easy passage, while Sudan admits 10 countries.

Africa’s most powerful and weakest passports

According to the index, citizens from Seychelles hold the most powerful passport in Africa, with the ability to easily access 126 countries globally.

Mauritius has the second-strongest passport (with admittance to 118 markets), followed by South Africa (90), Botswana (69) and Lesotho (66).

Both Seychelles and Rwanda are the biggest gainers in Africa, meaning their passports have strengthened the most when compared to 2016. Each now have painless entry to two extra countries. For example, Rwandan passport holders can now access 48 territories, compared to 46 last year.

After Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan have the second-weakest passports – both with easy entry to only 34 countries. Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy, Nigeria, also ranks poorly compared to other countries on the continent, with access to only 41 territories.

Ghana’s passport is Africa’s biggest loser, with admission to four less countries than it had in 2016.

COUNTRY VISA-FREE SCORE GLOBAL PASSPORT POWER RANK
Seychelles 126 25
Mauritius 118 32
South Africa 90 48
Botswana 69 59
Lesotho 66 61
Malawi 65 62
Swaziland 64 63
Namibia 64 63
Kenya 64 63
Gambia 63 64
Cape Verde 63 64
Tanzania 62 65
Tunisia 61 66
Zambia 59 68
Zimbabwe 58 69
Ghana 57 70
Uganda 57 70
Sierra Leone 56 71
Morocco 55 72
Benin 55 72
Guinea 54 73
Côte d’Ivoire 54 73
Senegal 53 74
São Tomé e Príncipe 53 74
Burkina Faso 52 75
Mauritania 52 75
Mali 51 76
Togo 50 77
Niger 49 78
Madagascar 49 78
Mozambique 48 79
Rwanda 48 79
Chad 48 79
Gabon 48 79
Egypt 48 79
Guinea-Bissau 47 80
Algeria 47 80
Comoros 47 80
Liberia 44 83
Central African Republic 44 83
Angola 43 84
Cameroon 43 84
Congo 43 84
Equatorial Guinea 43 84
Burundi 42 85
Nigeria 41 86
Djibouti 40 87
Democratic Republic of Congo 39 88
Libya 37 90
Eritrea 36 91
Sudan 36 91
South Sudan 34 93
Ethiopia 34 93
Somalia 30 94

 

Africa’s most welcoming and unwelcoming countries

Africa’s most welcoming countries are Seychelles, Uganda, Togo, Mozambique, Mauritania, Madagascar, Comoros, and Guinea-Bissau – all allowing 98 different national passports effortless passage.

After Somalia, Equatorial Guinea (which only allows US passport holders visa-free access) and Angola (which only allows easy entry to citizens of Namibia and Cape Verde) are the second and third least-welcoming countries in Africa.

Last year the African Union introduced a single African passport, although this is still only available to a few high-profile individuals. However, the end goal is to improve access to different African countries for the average African. Only 13 of 55 African countries offer visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to all Africans, according to the Africa Visa Openness Report 2016, commissioned by the African Development Bank (AfDB). It is actually less painful for Americans to travel within Africa than it generally is for Africans. For example, Nigerian business magnate Aliko Dangote pointed out last year that it is easier for US citizens to travel to South Africa for business than it is for him – as Nigerians have to apply for a visa while Americans are granted visa-free access.

COUNTRY GLOBAL RANK WELCOMING COUNTRIES SCORE
Comoros 1 198
Guinea-Bissau 1 198
Madagascar 1 198
Mauritania 1 198
Mozambique 1 198
Seychelles 1 198
Togo 1 198
Uganda 1 198
Cape Verde 2 197
Djibouti 4 195
Kenya 10 182
Tanzania 12 178
Mauritius 13 176
Malawi 22 146
Zambia 26 135
Gambia 28 125
Senegal 29 123
Zimbabwe 33 119
Egypt 34 116
Botswana 42 103
Swaziland 49 93
Tunisia 49 93
South Africa 62 74
Lesotho 63 72
Morocco 65 70
Burkina Faso 67 67
Rwanda 69 63
Namibia 73 54
São Tomé e Príncipe 74 53
Ghana 75 52
Ethiopia 80 41
Côte d’Ivoire 85 21
Guinea 85 21
Mali 86 20
Niger 87 19
Sierra Leone 87 19
Nigeria 88 18
Benin 89 17
Liberia 90 16
Central African Republic 91 14
Congo 91 14
Chad 92 13
Sudan 94 10
Algeria 96 8
Democratic Republic of Congo 97 7
Burundi 99 5
Cameroon 99 5
South sudan 99 5
Gabon 100 4
Eritrea 101 3
Libya 101 3
Angola 102 2
Equatorial Guinea 103 1
Somalia 104 0

 

How We Made It In Africa

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