Rwanda’s president has confirmed the country’s plans to bring a Formula 1 race back to Africa amid ongoing discussions with the sport’s bosses.
F1 has not raced in Africa since the 1993 South African Grand Prix in Kyalami, with plans to bring the event back to the calendar in recent years ultimately not materialising. F1 president Stefano Domenicali met representatives from Rwanda’s bid in September.
The track would be a permanent circuit near the planned Bugesera airport close to Kigali.
Rwanda has been hosting this week’s FIA general assembly for the first time, which concludes with Friday’s end-of-season driver and team awards where the world championship trophies are formally presented across motorsport.
Rwandan president Paul Kagame opened Friday’s General Assemblies meeting with the governing body and said: “I am happy to formally announce that Rwanda is bidding to bring the thrill of racing back to Africa, by hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix.
“A big thank you to Stefano Domenicali and the entire team at Formula 1 for the good progress in our discussions so far. I assure you that we are approaching this opportunity with seriousness and commitment which it deserves.”
When could a race in Africa join the F1 calendar?
The 2025 F1 calendar is already set, so the earliest a race in Rwanda could join the schedule would be 2026.
F1 recently announced the Dutch Grand Prix would drop off the calendar after 2026, therefore opening a potential spot for a new race in 2027, which would also give time to design a new track. However, there is no definitive timescale for a race in Africa to be held but Rwanda is leading the continent’s project.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is joining Ferrari from January, says Rwanda was one of his “favourite places” to visit after he explored various countries Africa this summer.
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“We can’t be adding races in other locations and continuing to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world just takes from. No one gives anything to Africa,” said Hamilton in August.
“There’s a huge amount of work needs to be done there. I think a lot of the world that haven’t been there don’t realise how beautiful the place is, how vast it is. And probably they don’t even know what the countries are doing still to those places in terms of holding back.
“So I think having a Grand Prix there will really be able to highlight just how great the place is and bring in tourism and all sorts of things.”
Rwanda has looked to increase tourism to the country in recent years as well as promote itself through sport, including a sponsorship deal with Arsenal FC.
However, Rwanda’s human rights record has come under scrutiny. Human Rights Watch submitted evidence to the UK International Agreements Committee in December 2023, saying: “Serious human rights abuses continue to occur in Rwanda, including repression of free speech, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and torture by Rwandan authorities. Political space in Rwanda remains tightly closed and the opposition face routine threats and harassment.”
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