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

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

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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