F1 returns to Africa with Rwanda to host race from early 2030s in 10-year deal
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The proposed Formula 1 circuit in Rwanda displayed on giant screens during the announcement of the race in Kigali on Oct 13.
PHOTO: AFP
- Formula 1 will return to Africa with Rwanda hosting a race from the early 2030s under a 10-year deal, ending a long absence since South Africa’s 1993 Grand Prix.
- Rwanda plans a purpose-built Grade One track near Bugesera airport, and F1 says the deal will bring tourism, investment, jobs and wider social benefits.
- The move is a major win for Africa and Rwanda, but Paul Kagame’s government still faces criticism over rights and support for M23 rebels in DR Congo.
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KIGALI – Rwanda will host a Formula 1 race from the early 2030s in a 10-year deal, the sport announced on Oct 13.
Formula 1 has not raced in Africa since the last South African Grand Prix was held at Kyalami, north of Johannesburg, in 1993 and has long sought a way back.
“Today is a landmark moment for Formula 1,” F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said at a press conference in the capital Kigali, with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and International Automobile Federation (FIA) head Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
“With Rwanda joining the calendar from the next decade, our sport will race in every inhabited continent, bringing the world championship closer than ever to fans around the globe.
“Africa has always been part of Formula 1’s future, and from the beginning we were determined to return in the right way, with the right partner, a long-term commitment and a clear vision for creating meaningful impact.”
More than just a Grand Prix
Kagame announced his landlocked East African country’s bid two years ago, with plans for a purpose-built Grade One track near a new international airport under construction at Bugesera some 40km south of Kigali. The circuit is expected to be completed early in the next decade.
Rwanda will become the third African country to host a round of the championship that started in 1950, with Morocco putting on a race outside Casablanca in 1958.
Domenicali said the deal with Rwanda was about much more than hosting a grand prix, talking up economic and social benefits through tourism and investment.
“For our fans this is an especially exciting moment,” he added. “Africa is home to more than 100 million Formula 1 fans and that number continues to grow rapidly.”
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, now 41 and racing for Ferrari, has said repeatedly that the time is right for a race in Africa and pushed for it to happen.
“I’ve always said that we need to have a grand prix in Africa. It is, for me, the most important continent and the most beautiful continent. We’re on all the other continents but that one and there should be no reason for it,” he told reporters in Singapore last weekend.
South Africa has also been keen to host a race in Cape Town or Kyalami, with sports minister Gayton Mackenzie saying recently that could still be possible.
“We are happy for Rwanda’s 2030 F1,” he wrote on X last week amid reports that an announcement was imminent. “They have worked on it longer than SA and deserve it.
“Some react like a continent of 55 countries can only get one,” he added, noting that Italy had until recently hosted two races a year and suggesting South Africa could still be in the frame.
This season, there are two races in Spain and three in the United States.
Rebuilding after 1994 genocide
Kagame has won praise from Western and regional leaders for helping to end the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and rebuilding the country into an attractive destination for investment and aid.
But he also stands accused of a crackdown on critics at home, and supporting the M23 rebel group in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, who rights groups say are guilty of killings, rapes and other rights abuses.
The “Visit Rwanda” tourism campaign has carried the country’s name into football through club sponsorships, basketball and cycling, with the 2025 UCI Road World Championships held there as well as the 2023 FIFA Congress and 2024 FIA Awards ceremony.
Formula 1, with global attention, would represent another step up.
“Today belongs to Africa,” said Kagame. “For more than three decades, the world’s premier motorsport championship has raced without this continent and that changes with this agreement.
“This 10-year partnership is also an investment in Rwanda’s future. The circuit... alongside the new international airport, will bring jobs, skills, tourism and new business to our country and our region for decades to come.” REUTERS