Improving the integrity of African Passports

Negative emotions along with disruption to schedules accompany visa denial. When one considers the time and money spent in the visa application process, various feelings pass through the mind that are not in the least positive.

The Henley Passport Index and Global Mobility Report is an original ranking of199 of the world’s passports, according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. In a recent ranking Nigeria and South Sudan were ranked 90th, Congo ranked 91st, Eritrea 92nd, Libya 95th and Somalia 99th.

Improving the integrity of African passports requires commitment, resources, and coordination among various stakeholders, including government agencies, law enforcement, and international organisations.

   The 2023  global passport ranking leveraged on data from International Air Transport Association, the voice of the world’s airlines. It ranks the passports of countries in the world based on the number of destinations their holders can visit without a visa. The passport of a country is scored higher if a passport holder from a country or territory can travel to each destination without a visa.

In the 2023 global passport ranking, Singapore took the first place as the world’s most powerful passport, displacing Japan to third place. Singapore passport allows visa-free entry to 192 destinations out of 227 in the world. Second place was Germany,  Italy and Spain with 190 global destinations. Austria,  Finland,  France, Luxembourg,  South Korea and Sweden came third. The United Kingdom came fourth.

The top 20 “most open” countries are reported to be small island nations or African States, except for Cambodia. In the list are Burundi, Comoros Islands,  Djibouti, Guinea Bissau,Maldives, Micronesia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Samoa, Seychelles, Timor- Leste and Tuvalu. At the bottom of the Henley’s Openness Index there are five countries which provide visa-free access to fewer than five nationalities namely: Libya, Bhutan, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea and India.

Steps that will have to be taken to improve the integrity of African passports will require enhancing the security features of passports to prevent counterfeiting and tampering. The authorities which issue passports should keep to International standards set by organisations such as ICAO. Rigorous identity verification and background checks should be in place. Also the process of passport production from printing to distribution should be safeguarded properly.

African countries should also be open to sharing intelligence on fraudulent documents, collaboration on training programmes as well as adopting best practices from other countries. Digital solutions should also complement the efforts of the issuing authorities. This will help streamline passport issuance processes and reduce the risk of human error and corruption.

The public should be made aware of the importance of passport integrity and the risks associated with fraudulent documents. At the same time countries need to stay ahead of the threats to the integrity of their passports.

African countries should consciously promote integration. This will not only promote trade but will increase opportunities open to the youthful population of Africa and grow the contribution of transport and tourism to the GDP of the region.

Improving the integrity of African passports is crucial for enhancing international travel, promoting economic growth, and facilitating people-to-people exchanges. By improving the integrity of African passports, countries can enhance security, promote regional integration, and facilitate travel and trade.