Formula 1 returns to Africa with a Grand Prix in Rwanda

Formula 1 is preparing its return to Africa. Rwanda and F1 agreed on Thursday to organize a Grand Prix which should allow the pinnacle of motorsport to return to the continent within a few years, a continent deserted since the last South African GP in 1993.

"By 2030" according to one source, "in the 2030s" according to another: the date of the first Rwandan GP has not yet been set, but the organization that owns Formula 1 and the Rwandan government have agreed in principle, sources close to the matter said on Thursday.

Two sources close to the Rwandan government indicated that the Rwandan executive branch would communicate on the matter "in due course." A source close to the International Automobile Federation (FIA), which oversees the sport but does not own it, mentioned a press conference "next week" in Kigali, the capital of the East African country.

The authorities of Qatar, which "supports" the project of a Rwandan GP to be held during "the 2030s", will be present at this event, she said without further details.

Rwanda does not currently have a circuit capable of hosting F1, the construction of which is expected to be costly.

sports diplomacy

"We are happy for the Rwanda Formula 1 Grand Prix," wrote South African Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie on X. "They have been working on this longer than South Africa and they deserve it," he added, as the two countries were competitors to bring F1 back to Africa.

Rwanda is a hilly country in the Great Lakes region of Africa, slightly smaller than Belgium, which colonized it in the 1920s until its independence in 1962. Its history has been marked by the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, which resulted in 800,000 deaths, mostly members of this community but also moderate Hutus.

Since then, under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, Rwanda has undergone an economic transformation, clearly visible in the capital Kigali.

Critics of this lanky man, re-elected in 2024 for a 4th term with a score of 99.18% of the votes, accuse him of ruling the country with an iron fist and muzzling all opposition.

Mr. Kagame has also chosen to promote his country through sport, with Rwanda becoming last year the first African country to host the world cycling championships.

In December 2024, the Rwandan president announced to the FIA that his country was "applying to bring the thrill of motor racing back to Africa", even though neighbouring Kenya has regularly hosted a round of the World Rally Championship in recent years - a discipline far less prestigious than F1.

Hamilton "behind the scenes"

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain also recently indicated that he had been "fighting behind the scenes" for years "to have a Grand Prix" on the African continent, describing Rwanda as a "spectacular" country in which "he thought he could live".

Kigali sponsors several major European football clubs - Paris SG, Atletico Madrid, Aston Villa - via its "Visit Rwanda" logo, as well as the American basketball franchise Los Angeles Clippers (NBA).

So far, the results are mixed in terms of tourism. While the country received 1.2 million tourists in 2017, the year before the "Visit Rwanda" campaign, their number rose to 1.6 million in 2019, before falling back to 1.49 million in 2025, according to official figures.

On social media, several internet users criticized a strategy ill-suited to a country whose GDP per capita barely exceeds $1,100, when a pass for a F1 weekend costs several hundred dollars.

"The authorities are keeping their cards close to their chest on this issue," said one of the sources close to the Rwandan government, "because they do not want to provoke a youth revolt, which (...) will not fail to ask how the organization of a Formula 1 GP will transform their sad economic situation."

AFP