NAIJA NEWS
The Nigerian passport has climbed nine places higher in the latest global passport ranking index.
Naija News learned that the recently released Henley Passport Index for Q2 2023 revealed that the Nigerian passport had moved to the 91st position, nine places higher than its previous position of 100 out of 199 countries and 227 travel destinations studied.
The latest passport index indicate that the Nigerian passport has gained more global access despite the number of countries accessible without visas or with visa-on-arrival remaining at 46.
It was gathered that as of June 2022, travelers with Nigerian passports could only traverse 25 countries visa-free. Still, the number increases to 45 destinations when visa-on-arrival or e-visa programmes are included.
The improved ranking, as learned, might not necessarily be due to the advancement of performance in the Nigerian passport strength but probably because other nations lost out in their earlier rankings.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian passport ranked as the least powerful amongst the 15 countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The Gambian passport was in the lead at the 72nd position in the latest ranking.
The index also revealed Sierra Leone was at 74th, Cabo Verde at 75th, Ghana at 76th, Benin at 78th, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast at 79th, Guinea at 80th, Senegal and Togo at 81st, Niger at 82nd, Mali and Guinea Bissau at 83rd, Liberia at 87th and Nigeria at 91st.
