The Henley Passport Index released an annual report this year that compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations that the released report features 163 countries.
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In the report, South Africa comes at number 55 in the latest ranking for the most powerful passport in the world, just close enough to making it in the top 50.
The report also highlighted that peaceful countries have more powerful passports which in this case, Japan, was number one with its passport providing easy access to 193 countries followed by Singapore and South Korea.
Commenting on the results, Stephen Klimczuk-Massion, Quondam Fellow of Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and Member of the Advisory Committee of the Andan Foundation, says “A passport is more than ever a calling card, which, depending on which passport you carry and where you are going, will have an impact on the kind of welcome you will receive, where you can go, and how safe you will be when you get there.
‘Now more than ever, it is a mistake to think of a passport as merely a travel document that allows you to get from A to B. The relative strength or weakness of a particular national passport directly affects the quality of life for the passport holder and may even be a matter of life and death in some circumstances.”
Meanwhile, countries like Afghanistan were last on the list – passport holders can visit only 27 countries without a visa.
Among African countries, South Africa is ranked third behind Seychelles (28th globally) and Mauritius (33rd globally).
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Picture: Cape Town etc {Gallery}
