By Ado Oyeyemi
Despite slipping one place to 90th in the latest Henley Passport Index, Nigerian passport holders can still travel to 44 destinations without obtaining a visa before departure.
The July 2026 edition of the global passport ranking, released by Henley & Partners, assigned Nigeria a visa-free mobility score of 44, allowing citizens to visit the listed destinations through visa-free entry, visa on arrival or electronic visa, depending on each country’s immigration policy.
The Henley Passport Index assesses 199 passports using data from the International Air Transport Association, ranking them according to the number of destinations their holders can access without securing a visa before travelling.
Although Nigeria dropped from 89th position recorded in the April 2026 ranking, its visa-free access score remained unchanged at 44.
The country’s global standing, however, represents an improvement from its rankings of 94th in 2025 and 103rd in 2021.
The 44 destinations currently accessible to Nigerian passport holders without obtaining a visa in advance are:
- Barbados
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi (Visa on arrival)
- Cambodia (Visa on arrival)
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde Islands
- Chad
- Comoro Islands (Visa on arrival)
- Cook Islands
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Fiji
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Haiti
- Iran (Visa on arrival)
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Madagascar (Visa on arrival)
- Maldives (Visa on arrival)
- Mali
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Montserrat
- Mozambique
- Niger
- Niue (Visa on arrival)
- Palau Islands (Visa on arrival)
- Rwanda
- Samoa (Visa on arrival)
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- The Gambia
- Timor-Leste (Visa on arrival)
- Togo
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
While Nigerians can access these destinations without securing a visa before departure, entry requirements differ from one country to another.
Some countries permit visa-free entry, while others issue visas on arrival or require travellers to obtain an electronic visa before departure.
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Prospective travellers are advised to verify the latest immigration requirements with the relevant authorities before making travel arrangements.
