The top 10 most powerful passports in Africa

The latest Henley & Partners Passport Index for 2024 shows the most powerful passports in the world from 199 different countries and 227 different travel destinations, ranking them quarterly in terms of travel power.

Each passport was scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free.

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South Africa placed 97th out of 199 countries with a visa-free score of 108.

That means there are 108 countries across the world that a South African passport holder can travel to visa-free.

Meanwhile, the index found that the France, Germany, Italy and Spain passports were the most powerful with a visa-free score of 194, followed by Netherlands with 192.

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Singapore fell to third with 194.

Afghanistan still sits at the bottom of the list with a score of 28.

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THE 108 COUNTRIES THAT SOUTH AFRICAN PASSPORT HOLDERS CAN VISIT VISA-FREE PER REGION:

Africa – 35

Americas – 18

Asia – 17

Caribbean – 16

Europe – 4

Middle East – 8

Oceania – 10

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Most powerful passports in Africa

According to the Henley Passport Power Index, these ten countries ranked as the most powerful passports in Africa alone:

1. Mauritius
2. Seychelles
3. South Africa
4. Tunisia
5. Botswana
6. Lesotho
7. Morocco
8. eSwatini
9. Namibia
10. Cape Verde Islands

Mauritius came first with a ranking of 38 and a visa-free score of 150.

Seychelles took the next spot with a ranking of 41 and a visa-free score of 156.

South Africa ranked as the third most powerful passport in Africa.

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