A new global ranking has placed the Nigerian passport in the 98th position out of 199 countries in the world.
Despite being regarded as the giant of Africa, some of the countries in the continent such as Malawi, Niger, Chad, Zimbabwe, Uganda and The Gambia rank high above Nigeria clinching 70, 90, 90, 72, 76, 75 positions respectively.
From further analysis, other countries ranking above Nigeria are Ghana and Morocco at 79, South Africa 51, Sierra Leone 80, Mozambique 81, Benin 82, Rwanda 82; Sao Tome and Principe, 83; Mauritania, 84; Burkina Faso, 85; Gabon, 86; Senegal, 87; Cote d'Ivoire, 87; Guinea, 89; Mali, 89; Togo, 89; the Central African Republic, 91.
Other countries include Guinea Bissau, 91; Burundi, 92; Angola, 93; Cameroon, 93; Liberia, 94; Republic of the Congo, 95; Djibouti, 96.
The ranking is drawn by the Henley Passport Index, a London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm.
It is described as the original, authoritative ranking of all the world's passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.
"The index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – the largest, most accurate travel information database – and enhanced by Henley & Partners' research team," it stated.
As indicated by the visa-free score, Nigeria's citizens can only visit 45 countries without a visa whereas Japanese, Swedish, and US passport holders can visit more than 180 destinations without a visa.
An overview on the site reads, "Travel freedom has generally expanded significantly since the first Henley Passport Index was published 17 years ago.
"In 2006, the global average number of countries that could be visited without having to obtain a visa in advance was 57. In 2022, the average has risen to 107. But this apparent progress is masking a growing divide in mobility — and the resulting access to opportunities — between citizens in the wealthy global north and those in the lower-income global south, which includes many fragile states…
"Against this backdrop of increasing disparity, high-net-worth investors and entrepreneurs are looking to create portfolios of complementary citizenship and residence options in multiple jurisdictions through investment migration programs, to access health security and optionality in terms of where they and their families can comfortably live, conduct business, study, and invest.
"Even those from advanced economies with premium passports can see the value in having choice and creating different options that will help spread risk, provide new opportunities, and mitigate against an increasingly volatile world."
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