Kenya’s passport has gained ground, moving one place on global ranking, reversing a downward trend that was hurting its position as the favourite investment destination in the region.
Latest data from Henley Passport Index Report released this week, shows Kenya is at position 76th globally from 77th last year. But this is still weaker than the 70th position in 2020 when countries imposed travel restrictions and grounded flights as the cases of Covid-19 skyrocketed.
The findings indicate that Kenya still faces travel restrictions in some countries despite a decline of Covid-19 globally. In Africa, Kenya and Tanzania’s passports were ranked the most powerful after Seychelles, Mauritius, South Africa, Botswana, eSwatini, Malawi and Lesotho.
Kenya held the same position in 2020. Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan scored 80, 86, 95 and 101 respectively, according to the report.
Japan held the number one spot on the index score of 193, while Singapore and South Korea came in joint-2nd place, with a score of 192.
The mobility score, which measures the number of countries that a holder of a Kenyan visa can travel to without a visa stood at 72. Nearly all countries in the world have eased travel restrictions allowing more visitors in their territory as the cases of Covid-19, which was first reported in 2019, have eased.
Some of the countries that Kenyans can access without visa or are able to get one on arrival are Singapore, Hong Kong, Jamaica and Fiji. Kenya has been banking on the new East African passport to improve the strength of its travel document globally.
Kenya pushed the deadline for acquiring new generation passports to November after it missed out on an earlier one that had been set for December last year. Uganda and Rwanda are the only countries in East Africa that have so far implemented the use of the new electronic passport, becoming the only countries in the region to comply with the new requirement.
