Uganda has maintained its position in the latest Henley Passport Index, ranking 72nd globally with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 65 destinations, while Kenya retained the strongest passport in East Africa.
The 2026 rankings released by Henley & Partners place Kenya 68th globally, with its passport allowing access to 70 destinations, up from 68 in 2025.
Rwanda and Tanzania are tied in 69th place, each offering access to 68 destinations, although their trajectories over the past year differed.
Rwanda emerged as one of the region's strongest performers after climbing from 76th globally in 2025, when its passport granted access to 66 destinations.
Tanzania retained its 69th global ranking despite the number of destinations accessible to its passport holders falling from 73 to 68.
Uganda remained 72nd for the second consecutive year, with its passport continuing to offer access to 65 destinations.
Although its ranking has fluctuated over recent years, Uganda has improved from its lowest position of 81st in 2021 and has largely recovered to the low 70s in the global rankings.
Elsewhere in East Africa, Burundi improved from 92nd to 88th globally, although visa-free access fell from 50 to 48 destinations.
The Democratic Republic of Congo climbed from 94th to 90th despite access dropping from 46 to 44 destinations, while Somalia rose from 102nd to 99th even as its travel access declined from 35 to 32 destinations.
The apparent contradiction reflects changes across the wider global rankings, where the relative performance of other countries also influences a passport's overall position.
Across Africa, Seychelles retained the continent's strongest passport, ranking 23rd globally with access to 155 destinations. Mauritius followed in 26th place with access to 148 destinations.
Globally, Singapore remained the world's most powerful passport, allowing visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 192 destinations. Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates were jointly ranked second with access to 188 destinations.
Henley & Partners said the 2026 edition marks two decades since the index was launched and highlights the dramatic expansion of international mobility.
"The 20th anniversary edition of the Henley Passport Index reveals that the average passport now provides visa-free access to 108 destinations worldwide, up from just 58 when the index was first launched in 2006, demonstrating how dramatically global mobility has expanded over the past two decades," the firm said.
The report notes that travel freedom has continued to expand despite rising geopolitical tensions and conflicts around the world.
"As millions of travelers prepare to cross borders for the peak Northern Hemisphere summer holiday season, the July 2026 Henley Passport Index shows that international mobility continues to evolve despite an increasingly complex and conflicted geopolitical landscape."
The Henley Passport Index is compiled using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), covering 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.
It ranks passports according to the number of destinations their holders can visit without obtaining a visa in advance, making it one of the world's most widely cited measures of global travel freedom.
This version flows more naturally, explains the apparent ranking anomalies, and reads more like a polished Nile Post feature.
