Africa's 15 most powerful passports in 2025: Where does SA rank?

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The latest Henley & Partners Passport Index for 2025 shows the most powerful passports in the world from 199 different countries and 227 different travel destinations, ranking them quarterly in terms of travel power.

Each passport was scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free.

South Africa placed 49th out of 199 countries with a visa-free score of 104.

That means there are 104 countries across the world that a South African passport holder can travel to visa-free.

Singapore is still the most powerful passport in the world with its citizens able to visit 193 visa-free travel destinations out of 227 around the world.

Japan and South Korea both tied second for most powerful, with its citizens able to visit 190 visa-free travel destinations out of 227 around the world.

Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain all tied for third position.

THE 104 COUNTRIES THAT SOUTH AFRICAN PASSPORT HOLDERS CAN VISIT VISA-FREE PER REGION:

Africa – 33

Americas – 18

Asia – 16

Caribbean – 16

Europe – 3

Middle East – 8

Oceania – 10

The 15 most powerful passports in Africa

According to the Henley Passport Power Index, these 15 countries ranked as the most powerful passports in Africa:

Rank in Africa	Country	Number of visa-free countries
1	Seychelles	156
2	Mauritius	150
3	South Africa	104
4	Botswana	86
5	Namibia	80
6	Lesotho	77
7	eSwatini	75
8	Malawi	74
8	Morocco	74
9	Kenya	72
10	Tanzania	71
10	The Gambia	71
11	Uganda	69
12	Zambia	68
13	Benin	67
13	Cape Verde Islands	67
13	Ghana	67
13	Tunisia	67
14	Sierra Leone	65
15	Rwanda	64
15	Zimbabwe	64