10 most powerful African passports in 2024

Business Insider Africa presents 10 most powerful African passports in 2024.
The list is courtesy of VisaGuide.World Passport Index.
In Africa, Seychelles boasts the highest passport score, reaching 72, and secures the 1664th spot in the rankings.

In this modern age, the passport has acquired a new dimension of significance in the form of its ranking among nations. Whether you can travel freely or not hinges on how strong or weak your passport is.

Given this newfound importance, it is important to recognize the disparity in passport power. Some passports offer their holders unmatched freedom, while others act as obstacles to mobility and opportunity.

The VisaGuide.World Passport Index, a system that assesses and ranks passports from 199 countries and territories based on a range of factors to gauge their strength, has unveiled the 2024 rankings, revealing how each country's passport is positioned.

Over the years, various indexes have been developed to rank and compare the power of passports. Among these, the Henley Passport Index and VisaGuide Passport Index are two of the most authoritative and widely referenced.

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However, according toVisaGuide.World's Passport Index, what sets it apart is that no two passports are ranked the same. It differentiates between diverse visa regulations, including visa-free entry, e-visas, visas on arrival, authorization entry, and visa bans, providing a more precise assessment of international travel convenience.

To achieve this distinct ranking, VisaGuide.World's Passport Index employ a proprietary Destination Significance Score (DSS) – a combination of many factors which gives each passport unique value.

This score is assigned to each travel destination, considering elements such as entry policies, GDP, Power Index, Tourism Index, and Human Development Index (HDI), among others.

This index is updated monthly to reflect changing global travel dynamics. In Africa, Seychelles boasts the highest passport score, reaching 72, and secures the 1664th spot in the rankings.

Below are the 10 most powerful African passports in 2024:

Rank	Country	Passport score	Visa free	Global rank
1	Seychelles	72.16	124	64th
2	Mauritius	69.46	118	70th
3	South Africa	40.95	71	98th
4	Botswana	32.54	57	117th
5	Lesotho	27.14	48	126th
6	Namibia	26.38	50	127th
7	Tunisia	26.30	37	128th
8	Morocco	25.51	37	129th
9	Eswatini	25.02	44	130th
10	Malawi	23.46	42	132nd