Rwanda’s president has confirmed the country’s plans to bring Formula One racing back to Africa amid ongoing discussions with the sport’s leaders.
F1 has not raced in Africa since the South African Grand Prix in Kyalami in 1993, with plans to return the event to the calendar ultimately falling through. F1 president Stefano Domenicali met with representatives of the Rwandan bid in September.
The route will be a permanent circuit near Bugesera Airport near Kigali.
Rwanda is hosting this week’s FIA General Assembly for the first time, which concludes on Friday with the end-of-season driver and team awards, where world championship trophies are officially handed out throughout motorsport.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame opened Friday’s General Assembly meeting with the governing body and said: “I am delighted to officially announce that Rwanda wants to bring the excitement of racing back to Africa by hosting the Formula 1 Grand Prix.
“A big thank you to Stefano Domenicali and the entire Formula 1 team for the good progress in our discussions so far. I assure you that we are approaching this opportunity with the seriousness and commitment it deserves.”
When can a race in Africa join the F1 calendar?
The 2025 F1 calendar is already set, so the earliest a race in Rwanda could be added to the schedule is 2026.
F1 recently announced that the Dutch Grand Prix will be off the calendar after 2026, potentially opening up space for a new race in 2027, which would also allow time for the new track to take shape continent project.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who joins Ferrari from January, says Rwanda has been one of his favorite places to visit after exploring various African countries this summer.
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“We can’t add tribes elsewhere and continue to ignore Africa, which is just taking away from the rest of the world. Nobody is giving anything to Africa,” Hamilton said in August.
“There’s a lot of work to be done there. I think a lot of the worlds who haven’t been there don’t realize how beautiful that place is. And they probably don’t even know what it is in terms of restraining places.
“So I think having a Grand Prix there will really highlight how great the place is and bring in tourism and all kinds of things.”
Rwanda has sought to increase tourism in the country in recent years as well as promote itself through sports, including signing a sponsorship deal with Arsenal FC.
However, the Rwandan human rights case has come under scrutiny. Human Rights Watch presented evidence to the UK’s International Covenants Committee in December 2023, saying “Serious human rights violations continue to occur in Rwanda, including suppression of free speech, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and torture by the Rwandan authorities. Rwanda remains firmly closed and the opposition faces routine threats and harassment.”
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