Nairobi — Kenya has been ranked as the country with the most powerful passport in East Africa.

The ranking by Henley & Partners, a citizenship and planning firm, considers how many countries can be visited without applying for a visa.

According to the 2022 Henley Passport Index released on Wednesday, Kenya was ranked as the ninth African country with the strongest passport and 76th worldwide able to access 72 destinations alongside Tanzania.

The ranking by Henley saw Seychelles with the most powerful passport in Africa with access to 153 destinations and 28th globally. Mauritius followed with access to 146 destinations and emerged 33rd worldwide.

South Africa followed with 105 destinations and ranked number 55 globally. Botswana emerged fourth with 87 destinations, Namibia fifth with 79 destinations, Lesotho followed with 77 destinations and eSwatini with 75 destinations.

Malawi became eighth with 74 destinations followed by Kenya and Tanzania.

Japan, Singapore and South Korea have the most powerful passports globally with Japan having access to 193 destinations and Singapore together with South Korea 192 destinations.

The index stated that numbers of passengers should reach 83% of pre-pandemic levels in 2022.

"By next year, many markets should see traffic reach or exceed pre-pandemic levels, while we expect this to be the case for the industry as a whole in 2024." Chief Economist at IATA said.

The index, which uses 17 years of data, helps wealthy individuals and governments assess the value of citizenships around the world based on which passports offer the most prolific visa-free, or visa-on-arrival access.