Ghana ranks 78 out of 199 countries in Visa Restrictions Index
Ghana is ranked 78th out of 199 countries in the Visa Restrictions Index, a global ranking of countries based on the travel freedom enjoyed by citizens and travel destinations available without visa requirements.
The ranking which is done annually by Henley & Partners – a global residence and citizenship planning firm headquartered in London – in collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), measures the number of countries which citizens may travel to without a visa, out of 219 destinations.
Along with Georgia and Uganda, Ghana scored an index of 61 out of 218, which is the maximum attainable score, since points cannot be awarded for travelling to one’s own country.
With an index of 61, Ghana stands 112 points behind Germany and the United Kingdom, tied at 1st place with 173 visa-free destinations available to its citizens, and 36 points ahead of Afghanistan, which is bottom on the list with 25 points.
In principle however, there are in truth, 124 countries ranked ahead of Ghana and 73 behind it, owing to some scoring the same index and subsequently, sharing ranks.
Twelve countries in Africa lie above Ghana in the ranking: Seychelles in the 28th position with an index of 129, Mauritius in 33rd with 124, South Africa, 52nd with 95; Botswana at 68th with an index of 72, Kenya and Namibia tied in 70th position with 70 points, Lesotho, 71st with 69 destinations; Swaziland 73rd with 67, Gambia, 74th with 66 points; Tanzania and Zambia at 75th with 65 visa-free destinations available, and Tunisia at the 76th position with 63 points.
Just below Ghana on the continent, is Zimbabwe in 81st with 58 points, Benin, Cape Verde and Morocco tied at 82nd with 56 points, Cote d’Ivoire in 84th with 54 points, and Mauritania and Senegal at 85th with 53 points.
The rest in chronological order are Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Mali, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Chad, Egypt, Gabon, Rwanda, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Congo Brazzaville, Djibouti, Angola, Liberia, Libya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan and Somalia.
Behind Germany and Great Britain sharing top of the ranking, are Finland, Sweden and the USA tied at 2nd place with 172 points, and followed in third by Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Norway with 171 points.
Bottom of the list are Syria (33), Pakistan (31), Somalia (30), Iraq (29) and Afghanistan (25).
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) shows the biggest improvement in the index among the 299 countries, with an addition of 37 countries and improvement in rank from 55 to 40.
A statement from Henley & Partners said the UAE has also been the biggest climber in the index over the past decade.
Commenting on this feat, Marco Gantenbein, the Managing Partner of Henley & Partners in Dubai, was quoted as saying: “Europe, the US and Canada, as the world’s economic powerhouses, continue to dominate the top 10 as we anticipated. However, it’s the performance of the UAE which needs to be applauded for the implied improvement of its international relations, which is very much reflected in the improved ranking in the Henley & Partners Index”.
By Emmanuel Odonkor
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