Nigeria’s Passport Improves in Rank, Weakens in Access
Nigeria’s global passport ranking has improved by six places since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023, yet the actual number of countries that Nigerians can enter without a prior visa has quietly shrunk, presenting a contradictory picture of progress and decline.
According to the April 2026 edition of the Henley Passport Index, Nigeria now ranks 89th globally, up from 95th in January 2024. However, the number of visa-free destinations accessible to Nigerian passport holders has fallen to 44, down from 46 in January 2025 and 45 in January 2024. The index, now in its 21st year, ranks 199 passports using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association across 227 travel destinations.
A detailed breakdown shows that while Nigeria gained access to nine new destinations, including Fiji, Micronesia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Togo, Samoa, Palau Islands, Niue and Montserrat between 2025 and 2026, it simultaneously lost access to seven countries. Ethiopia scrapped visa-on-arrival for Nigerians in October 2022, a development that drew attention given that the change came barely two weeks after Ethiopian Airlines emerged as a core investor in Nigeria’s national carrier project. Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mauritania, São Tomé and Príncipe and Somalia have similarly moved Nigeria into the “visa required” category. None of these countries cited formal bilateral disputes, and the changes were described as administrative.
The ranking improvement has been partly attributed to the further decline of other countries in the index rather than any measurable improvement in Nigeria’s bilateral agreements. Over two decades, the Nigerian passport has actually fallen 27 places, from 62nd in 2006 to 89th in 2026.
Within West Africa, Nigeria sits near the bottom. Ghana ranks 67th globally with 67 visa-free destinations, while The Gambia, with a population of under 2.5 million, ranks 66th with 68 destinations. Senegal ranks 77th with 56 destinations. Across the continent, South Africa leads at 46th globally with 100 visa-free destinations.
Globally, Singapore holds the world’s strongest passport with access to 192 destinations, followed by Japan and South Korea jointly at 187, with the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan holds the weakest passport, with access to just 23 destinations.
Charles Onunaiju, Research Director at the Centre for China Studies in Abuja, linked Nigeria’s declining visa access to domestic challenges, saying in an earlier interview: “Almost all embassies now enforce regulations on Nigerians that they don’t impose on other nationals. If we want to earn respect from outside, we must begin from home.”
A former official of the Nigeria Immigration Service, speaking anonymously, said the NIS remains focused on deepening passport technology to meet International Civil Aviation Organisation standards rather than on the Henley ranking alone.