Kenya’s passport is now the eighth most powerful in Africa and 71st globally.

According to a six-place increase in its mobility score in the most recent rating, Kenya’s passport is now the eighth most powerful in Africa and the 71st in the world.

According to the Henley Passport Index Report, the number of countries that Kenyans may travel to without a visa or receive one on arrival has climbed to 72 from 64 in January last year.

The mobility score counts the number of countries that a Kenyan citizen may travel without a visa or the countries where they can get a visa on arrival.

Kenya finished eighth, tied with Tanzania in the most recent ranking, and behind Mauritius, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Seychelles, and South Africa.

Last year, Kenya’s travel document was ranked 77th in the world due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic.

“…Covid-19, in conjunction with instability and inequality, has exposed and exacerbated the alarming imbalance in worldwide movement between affluent industrialized countries and their poorer ones,” according to the paper.

According to the research, Uganda is ranked 76, with Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan ranking 82, 92, and 99, respectively.

The mobility score, a Henley Passport Index project, decreased the robustness of Kenya’s travel document last year due to the negative impacts of the Covid-19, which reduced the number of countries that one could visit without a visa.

Japan and Singapore are tied at first place, with inhabitants of both countries being allowed to visit 192 countries without a visa. Germany was ranked third in the world.

Kenya has issued new chip-embedded passports to its people in an effort to combat the widespread counterfeiting and impersonation of holders. The additional characteristics are intended to make forging or duplicating a Kenyan passport difficult.

The introduction of e-passports with a 10-year validity term signified the end of the ‘analog’ passports that had been in use since independence, and the country has joined the 60 other nations that utilize modern passports.