THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
By removing visa requirements for Singaporeans, Paraguay helped Singapore edge out Germany for the top spot in the Passport Index published by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital.
Singapore was previously tied with Germany for the number-one spot.
Paraguay recently removed its visa requirements for Singaporeans, giving citizens easy access to 159 countries, compared to 158 for German passport-holders.
Historically, the top ten most powerful passports in the world were mostly European, with Germany having the lead for the past two years.
Since early 2017, Singapore has tied for number one position with Germany.
The Passport Index ranks national passports according to the number of countries a passport holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival.
Here are the world’s most powerful passports, according to Passport Index:
Rank Passport No. countries accessible
1 Singapore 159
2 Germany 158
3 Sweden, South Korea 157
4 Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, Spain,
Norway, Japan, United Kingdom 156
5 Luxembourg, Switzerland, Netherlands,
Belgium, Austria, Portugal 155
6 Malaysia, Ireland, United States, Canada 154
7 Greece, New Zealand, Australia 153
8 Malta, Czechia, Iceland 152
9 Hungary 150
10 Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia 149
Passports considered for the index are those from the 193 United Nations member countries, as well as six territories: Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, Kosovo, Palestine, and the Vatican.
A similar index, published annually, by citizenship planning company Henley & Partners, ranks Singapore number four, with Germany the champion passport.
Felix Dappah
