The Kenyan passport is the eighth most powerful in Africa and 71 globally according to a new research.
The passport mobility score improved six places according to the Henley Passport Index Report released this week which shows that the number of countries that Kenyans can visit without a visa, or obtain it on arrival has increased to 72 from 64 in January last year.
Kenya emerged eighth, a spot that it shared with Tanzania in the latest ranking and behind Mauritius, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Seychelles and South Africa.
The mobility score, which is an initiative of Henley Passport Index had last year downgraded the strength of Kenya’s travel document on account of devastating effects of the Covid-19 that lowered the number of countries that one would visit without visa.
“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,” said the report.
Globally, Kenya was in position 72, in a ranking that placed Japan and Singapore on the top, with citizens from the two countries being offered visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to an incredible 192 destinations around the world.
Some of the countries that Kenyans can access without visa or get one on arrival include Singapore, Hong Kong, Jamaica and Fiji, among others.
Uganda emerged position 76 with Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan coming in at number 82, 92 and 99 respectively, according to the report.
Germany and South Korea hold onto joìnt second spot on the latest ranking, with passport holders able to access 190 destinations visa-free, while Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Spain share third place, with a score of 189.
The US and the UK passports have regained some of their previous strength after falling all the way to eighth place in 2020 – the lowest spot held by either country in the index’s 17-year history. Both countries now sit in sixth place, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 186.
