Ranking of Kenyan Passport top puts Kenya a leg up

According to a ranking system created by Arton Capital, a financial advisory firm, the Kenyan passport is ranked 50^th  out of 199 indexed passports in the world and its holders can visit 68 countries without a visa/ getting visa on arrival.

This move puts the country which recently hosted the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) at a good position and according to Travelstart, an online travel agency  it gives Kenya a leg up on the rest of the East African countries.

“Arton Capital’s assessment bodes well for Kenyans who love to travel. Currently, Kenyan passport holders enjoy visa-free access to 68 countries in the world including Mauritius, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Jamaica, Bahamas, Ethiopia, Philippines, Singapore. Visa free travel is extremely important because it facilitates doing business in foreign territories, and for leisure travellers it reduces the costs and administrative hassles of international travel.”  Oluwakemi Ojo , Head of Communications for Travelstart Kenya said.

In East Africa, Kenya has a leg up on the rest of the sub-region. The second most useful passport in the region belongs to Tanzania whose bearers can travel to a total of 61 countries without having to apply for a visa. Citizens of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Eritrea are less fortunate with visa-free access to just 38 countries.

The Passport Index filters passports by country, by region, by colour (of the passport cover), and by passport power rank – the ranking system allocates 1 point for each country the passport holder can enter without applying for a visa before departure.

The United Kingdom and United States share the highest passport power rank in the index with access to 147 countries, while Palestinian Territories, Myanmar among others have the lowest with visa free access to just 28 countries.

The Index’s visa-free count is based on data and consultations from IATA’s Timaticweb platform and other sources. Passports are ranked based on their Visa Free Score. The higher the Visa Free Score, the better the Passport Power Rank.

The country list is based on the 193 UN member countries and 6 territories (Macao, Kosovo, etc.) for a total of 199. Territories annexed to other countries such as Norfolk Island, French Polynesia, etc. are excluded. Data is based on research from publicly available sources, as well as information shared by government agencies.

Below is a table showing the top 10 passports from the East African region, according to Passport Index.

Click here to see how useful the Kenyan passport is