The Nigerian passport is ranked 57th in the world out of 199 indexed passports. This is according to Passport Index – the interactive tool recently unveiled by Arton Capital, a financial advisory firm which specialises in procuring multiple citizenships for its clients.

Commenting on the Index, Oluwakemi Ojo – Head of Communications for Travelstart Nigeria – said, “Arton Capital’s assessment bodes well for Nigerians who love to travel. Currently, Nigerian passport holders enjoy visa-free access to 61 countries in the world including Fiji, Dominican Republic, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Kenya. 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.”

In West Africa, Guinea has a leg up on the rest of the sub-region. The second most useful passport in the region belongs to Togo whose bearers can travel to a total of 67 countries without having to apply for a visa. Citizens of Sao Tome & Principles are less fortunate with visa-free access to just 28 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. Nigeria holds the same rank on the passport ranking as with Tunisia, Zambia, Mali, Namibia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Tanzania and Bahrain.

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.

Check the passport index for Nigeria and other countries here: http://www.passportindex.org/