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Formula 1 agrees 10-year deal to race in Rwanda, its first African stop since 1993
President Paul Kagame announced the agreement in Kigali on Tuesday. The race, to be called the Formula 1 African Grand Prix, is expected from the early 2030s.
Key points
- Rwanda has signed a 10-year agreement to host a Formula 1 African Grand Prix.
- Races are expected to start in the early 2030s.
- F1 has not raced in Africa since the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami.
Formula 1 will return to Africa under a 10-year agreement with Rwanda, President Paul Kagame announced in Kigali on Tuesday, ending a gap that goes back more than three decades.
The race will be known as the Formula 1 African Grand Prix, and is expected to join the calendar in the early 2030s. Senior Formula 1 officials attended the announcement.
“Today belongs to Africa,” Kagame said. He noted that the world championship had raced without the continent for decades, and said “that changes with this agreement.”
A long road back
Africa has not hosted a grand prix since the South African race at Kyalami in 1993. Formula 1 tried in recent years to revive a race at Kyalami, but those talks collapsed over problems with the local promoter.
Rwanda made its bid public in December 2024, when Kagame opened the FIA’s general assembly in Kigali and said the country wanted “to bring the thrill of racing back to Africa.” The plan presented then was for a permanent circuit near the new Bugesera airport outside the capital, designed by former F1 driver Alexander Wurz, then chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has long called for a race in Africa and backed Rwanda’s plans in 2024. The bid also drew criticism from Kagame’s opponents, who accuse the government of using big sporting events to improve its image abroad while restricting political freedoms at home.