Most powerful African passports : While all passports around the world may roughly be the same size at 125 mm × 88 mm – its power ultimately boils down to whether or not you need a visa to visit certain countries or not. Seychelles is the African country whose citizens have the most freedom to visit other countries around the globe, while Eritrean passport holders have the hardest time travelling. A new infographic, designed by Rosie Spinks for GOOD magazine, ranks countries according to the number of places their passports can enter either without a visa, or with a visa on arrival.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, features in joint 33rd position. Globally, passports from Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom are the most powerful, allowing citizens easy access to 173 countries. Afghanistan is the lowest ranked country. Strict visa requirements between African countries have been blamed for holding back economic growth. “Africa is one of the regions in the world with the highest visa requirements. Visa restrictions imply missed economic opportunities for intra-regional trade and for the local service economy such as tourism, cross-country medical services or education”, said Mthuli Ncube, chief economist and vice-president of the African Development Bank, during a conference last year. Note: The original infographic doesn’t include Liberia or Somalia, and both the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of the Congo are referred to as “Congo
10. Zambia – No Visa Required in 66 Countries
A somewhat good reflection of the power on a Zambian Passport holder because it means for you to travel globally you need to apply for Visas to more than half the number of the 219 countries surveyed!. The Zambian Passport ranks 7th on our list of the most powerful passports in Africa with 66 countries no visa required, the same as the Malawian Passport. The Zambian passport has made it on the list of the 10 most powerful passports in Africa.
Ghana – World Rank: 73 – Africa Rank: 9
Ghana is one of the most stable countries on Africa’s west coast and has one of the most free economies in all of Africa. In fact, Ghana scored higher than France for economic freedom and ranks much higher than the United States for freedom of the press. We even ranked Ghana’s capital, Accra, as one of the most livable frontier market cities in the world.
Investment is one of Ghana’s strengths and the country is expected to experience 32.7% capital growth over the next five years. Another plus is that Ghana permits foreign property ownership and — along with telecommunications, financial services, energy and manufacturing — real estate provides a strong investment opportunity.
Ghana’s passport is the ninth most powerful passport in Africa and 73rd most powerful in the world, allowing visa-free travel to 64 countries.
Ghana is one of the few countries on this list that allows dual citizenship. To qualify for naturalization, you need to have lived in Ghana the entire year before submitting your application and at least five out of the seven previous years. While English is widely spoken throughout Ghana, you must be able to speak and understand a Ghanaian language and intend to permanently reside in Ghana to qualify, as well.
Tunisia & Tanzania – World Rank: 72 – Africa Rank: 8
Both Tanzania and Tunisia ranked 72nd on the the Visa Restrictions Index, which makes them both the eighth most powerful passports in Africa with visa-free travel to 65 countries.
Tunisia is among the more prosperous African nations — due in large part to its location in the center of North Africa along the Mediterranean. Dual citizenship is allowed and naturalization only requires five years of residency and a knowledge of the Arabic language.
Though it is one of the few nations on this list that offers dual citizenship, Tunisia isn’t one of my top recommendations for someone looking to do business in Africa.
Tunisia was the catalyst for the the Arab Spring and — though it has been relatively stable in the past few years — has recently experienced another bout of violence (this time mostly against foreigners) provoked by the growing influence of ultra-conservative Islam.
In contrast, though the next country on this list doesn’t offer dual citizenship, it is one of my favorite countries to talk about on the continent . . .
7. Malawi & Gambia – No Visa required in 66 Countries
This number somewhat is a good reflection of the power on a Malawian Passport holder because it means for you to travel globally you need to apply for Visas to more than half the number of the 219 countries surveyed!. The Malawian Passport ranks 7th on our list of the most powerful passports in Africa with 66 countries no visa required, the same as the Zambian Passport. Although Malawi is geographically small, in terms of area, its passport has made it on the list of the 10 most powerful passports in Africa.
6. Kenya – No visa required in 68 Countries
This number somewhat is a fair reflection of the power on a Kenyan Passport holder because it means for you to travel globally you need to apply for Visas to more than half the number of the 219 countries surveyed!. The Kenyan Passport ranks 6th on our list of the most powerful passports in Africa with 68 countries no visa required
Namibia (68th worldwide and 5th in Africa)
Allows it only in cases of citizens who have obtained citizenship by birth or descent, as long as the laws of the other country allow dual citizenship.
The other countries among the top ten that do NOT allow dual citizenship include:
4. Botswana – No visa required in 73 Countries
The fourth most powerful African passport is that held by citizens of Botswana, which is ranked 58th in the Index. However, the Botswana passport only offers visa-free entry to 73 countries, which makes it 57% poorer in terms of access than the five highest-ranked passports: citizens of Finland, Sweden, the UK, Germany and the United States are able to travel visa-free to 174 destinations around the globe.
South Africa – World Rank: 54 – Africa Rank: 3
Surprisingly, second citizenship in South Africa will only get you the 54th most powerful passport in the world. The ranking was good enough, however, to place South Africa in third place among the most powerful passports in Africa. Citizens of South Africa can travel to 97 countries without a visa.
South Africa does not have an economic citizenship program, but it does allow dual citizenship. There are two catches, however. The first is that naturalized citizens cannot apply for dual citizenship AFTER they have been naturalized; the second is that any individual seeking a second citizenship must inform the government BEFORE that second citizenship is attained or their South African citizenship will be revoked.
For those who choose to seek a second passport, however, there are three main options for doing so. The first option is to apply for naturalization. To do so you must have a valid permanent residence permit and have had one year of ordinary residency immediately prior to your application, plus an additional four years of physical residence within the past eight years.
Your second option is to prove that you can sustain yourself financially by showing you have a personal estate of at least ZAR7.5 million (just under $500,000 USD).
The third option is marriage, which changes the requirements for naturalization. Once you have your permanent residency, you need only two years of permanent residence and two years of marriage to a South African spouse prior to your application.
For those looking to do business or to invest instead of applying for citizenship, take note that South Africa is not very welcoming to outsiders. The government’s position on reversing discrimination is to discriminate against property rights and capital investment, including a campaign of expropriation and laws banning foreigners from owning land.
The final two countries on this list leave South Africa and most of the other countries mentioned well behind them in the rankings and in their desirability as offshore jurisdictions.
Mauritius – World Rank: 35 – Africa Rank: 2
A small island in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius has long been a haven for Africans and Asians as one of the best places in Africa for investment. Not only does the island attract a large amount of tourism, it is also an excellent option for offshore bank accounts, web hosting, and companies.
The Mauritius government consistently obtains high rankings for democracy and economic and political freedom. It ranked 15th in the world for economic freedom in 2016, has high ratings for freedom of the press, and is one of the World Bank’s top 20 countries for doing business.
As investment in Africa increases, look for Mauritius to become a Hong Kong of sorts as one of Africa’s key offshore financial centers.
It is no surprise that this multiethnic, multi-religious, multicultural and multilingual country offers the second most powerful passport in all of Africa, 35th worldwide with visa-free travel to 128 countries — including Europe’s Schengen area.
Mauritius offers the continents most attractive economic citizenship program: with an investment of $500,000 USD in real estate or business you can automatically qualify for permanent residence. Once you have resided in Mauritius for a continuous period of at least two years you can apply for naturalization. Unfortunately, however
1. Seychelles- No visa required in 129 Countries
Seychellois passport holders can visit more countries in the world than Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya or Nigeria without the need to apply for a visa beforehand. An infographic published by GOOD Magazine, which ranked countries according to the number of countries their passports can enter either without a visa, or with a visaon arrival, reveals that Seychelles passport holders have access to 126 countries, making it the African passport with the best access to the world, sitting in 28th position worldwide.
