Passport power: South Africa has dropped 15 places

Source: Times Live, 22/05/2018

While South Africa remains an under-performer‚ Japan is the best
passport to have and the Emirati are capitalising on tourism to
diversify their economies‚ according to an index of global travel
access. President Cyril Ramaphosa is targeting travel within Africa to
improve SA`s future scenario.
Since reaching its highest rank of 35th globally in both the 2008 and
2009 Henley Passport Index listings‚ South Africa has dropped 15
places‚ now occupying 50th place overall‚ offering 102 destinations
with visa-free access.
Japan leads by offering its citizens visa-free or visa-on-arrival
access to 189 destinations. Singapore and Germany hold joint 2nd
place‚ with 188 destinations accessible without a prior visa. Third
place is shared by six countries: one Asian (South Korea) and the rest
European (Finland‚ France‚ Italy‚ Spain‚ and Sweden)‚ according to the
latest Henley Passport Index.
Amanda Smit‚ director of Henley & Partners South Africa‚ commented on
Tuesday: `Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the poorest performing regions
on the Henley Passport Index ... Other regions are simply performing
better and improving faster.`
`As a result of the relatively sluggish growth in mobility for
Sub-Saharan Africans‚ the region has become an important centre for
outbound investment migration‚ with many financially independent
acquiring more powerful passports through citizenship-by-investment
programmes overseas.`
Ryan Cummings‚ director of Signal Risk‚ a political and security
risk-management consultancy‚ said driving the downward spiral of South
Africa on the rankings were `concerns over the unlawful replication of
South African passports documents‚ with replication often abetted by
corrupt officials within the Department of Home Affairs.`
These concerns saw visa regulations being enforced by several
countries‚ including the UK and Colombia. However‚ the implementation
of widespread reforms at Home Affairs since 2014 - focused on
improving security features both in the application process and within
the passport document itself - was expected to enhance confidence in
the South African passport and could see a relaxation of visa
restrictions for its holders going forward.
`Other factors that could strengthen the South Africa passport over
the short-to-medium-term include President Cyril Ramaphosa’s intention
to ease visa restrictions for African passport holders so as to induce
greater intra-Africa trade‚ in addition to his deployment of an
economic envoy with the mandate of securing USD 100 billion in foreign
direct investment‚` said Cummings. `Both of these developments are
expected to bring about an uptick in the signing of bilateral
visa-waiver agreements between South Africa and its trade partners‚ as
a means of facilitating ease of trade and commerce.`
In the region‚ first and second place are held by the Seychelles and
Mauritius‚ respectively. The report noted that both islands maintain
visa-waiver agreements with Schengen countries as well as their own
relatively open visa policies.
The Seychelles‚ which renders itself a completely visa-free
destination‚ secured further deregulated visa access for its
passport-holders through visa waivers from the governments of Thailand
and Angola in the first quarter of 2018. Similarly‚ Mauritius‚ which
is visa-free for all but 16 countries‚ secured a visa-waiver agreement
with New Zealand in April 2018.
The UAE‚ in 23rd place‚ is the fastest overall climber on the index‚
rising 38 places since 2008. Henley states the country has secured
more new visa-waivers for its citizens in 2018 than any other
jurisdiction in the world.
In 2018 alone‚ the UAE has gained access to eight new countries:
China‚ Ireland‚ Burkina Faso‚ Uruguay‚ Guinea‚ Tonga‚ Benin‚ and Honduras.
Cummings commented: “The visa-waiver agreements signed by the UAE to
date are very much in line with the country’s ongoing intention to
position itself as the foremost commercial hub in the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) zone‚ where it is increasingly hosting the regional
headquarters of multinational firms operating in culturally diverse
industries such as healthcare‚ professional and financial services‚
and digital technologies. These developments also reflect the
country’s publicized goal of shifting its economic dependence away
from the extractive industry towards the tourism sector‚ where it aims
to create an ambitious 720‚000 employment opportunities by 2028.”
Economic diversification away from the oil sector and towards the less
volatile tourism industry has become a common theme across the GCC
zone: Qatar extended a visa-waiver programme to more than 80 countries
in the final quarter of 2017‚ and the country has continued this trend
in 2018‚ as part of its aim to attract 8-million tourists annually by
2030. Saudi Arabia‚ too‚ issued inaugural tourist visas on April 1
this year‚ seeking to secure its own target of 30 million tourists by
2030.