Kenya Improves its Global Passport Ranking, Japan, Singapore Top List

The Kenyan passport now ranks eighth in Africa and 71 globally on the Henley Passport Index, the London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm, said. 

It released the rankings for the year 2022, based on exclusive data provided by the International Air Transport Association.

In the report, the passport mobility score improved six places enabling Kenyans to visit without a visa or obtain it on arrival increasing to 72 from 64 in January 2021.

Kenyan passport 8th most powerful in Africa

In Africa, Kenya maintained eighth, a spot that is shared with Tanzania and behind Mauritius, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Seychelles and South Africa.

Uganda emerged in position 76 with Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan coming in at number 82, 92 and 99 respectively, according to the report.

In 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on air travel, Kenya’s passport was downgraded.

As per the report, Japan and Singapore top the list of being the most powerful passports in the world for the year 2022. The visa-free score of both countries is 192.

Afghanistan (rank 111) and Iraq (rank 110) continue to be in the ‘worst passports to hold’ category having a visa-free score of 26 and 28 respectively. Pakistan’s passport is fourth among the worst or least powerful passports.

The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different destinations.

Commenting on the Henley Global Mobility Report 2022 Q1, which was released Tuesday along with the latest Henley Passport Index ranking, Prof. Mehari Taddele Maru from the Migration Policy Centre points out the global south’s willingness to respond to changing circumstances is not always shared by countries in the global north. 

“Expensive requirements associated with international travel institutionalize inequality and discrimination. Covid-19 and its interplay with instability and inequality has highlighted and exacerbated the shocking disparity in international mobility between wealthy developed nations and their poorer counterparts.”