Top 10 African countries with the most powerful passport in 2023 [updated]

The importance of a country's passport goes far beyond its symbolic worth in today's interconnected world. Citizens may travel, work, study, and experience the globe with greater ease when they have a strong passport since it enables a wide range of options. Although different countries may score their passports differently, the benefits of having a strong passport are indisputable.

A strong passport enables travelers to visit several nations without a visa or with one issued at the airport. This increases options for pleasure, commerce, and cross-cultural interaction in addition to saving time and effort.

The Africa Wealth Report 2023, published by Henley & Partners, the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment, showed that some African countries have much higher economic mobility than others owing to the strength of their passports. 

Based on a report done by Henley & Partners which ranks all 199 passports in the world in terms of their Henley Passport Power score, travelers from developing nations are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to global travel.

The report shows that when you juxtapose countries you can travel to without needing a visa and the sum total of the gross domestic products of these countries, you get an accurate estimate of how powerful your passport is. For example, the 46 destinations Nigerians can travel to without needing a visa represent 20% of the destinations worldwide, they account for only around 2% of the global GDP. This perspective reveals that the residents of the richest nations in Africa have extremely little passport power and limited economic mobility.

However, there are several African nations with remarkable levels of passport power and economic mobility. The following 10 nations fall into this category based on the reports visa-free score;

PS: A similar list was compiled by Business Insider Africa in January, but since then Henley and Partners have made a few adjustments, with Zambia being displaced and replaced by eSwatini, Kenya moving down a spot, and a few index changes, other than that, the list largely remains the same. Also the previous list contains the report's methodology.