Motor racing’s elite Formula 1 (F1) series has confirmed that it will return to Africa for the first time in almost 40 years, after striking a 10-year hosting agreement to stage races in Rwanda.
Rwanda will join the F1 calendar “in the early 2030s” with races to be staged at a new purpose-built circuit close to the under-construction Bugesera International Airport, which serves the capital city of Kigali.
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F1 claims over 100 million fans on the continent of Africa, adding that of those who reside in sub-Saharan Africa, 60% are in the under-35 age demographic.
The event will be title sponsored by ‘Visit Rwanda’, the promotional brand of the country’s tourist board
Speaking on the announcement, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA motorsport governing body, said: “Rwanda has demonstrated a strong commitment to delivering a world-class event, and the FIA will work closely with FOM and our partners as this new circuit is developed to the highest international standards.
“This agreement is also about creating a lasting legacy, inspiring new generations, developing talent and opening new opportunities for motorsport across Africa and beyond. Increasing accessibility is at the heart of the FIA’s mission, and we have a responsibility to ensure that our sport continues to grow at every level, reaching new communities and creating opportunities for people in every corner of the world.
F1 has not hosted a race on the continent of Africa since the 1993 South Africa Grand Prix.
That event, first held in 1934, was an annual fixture in the championship between 1965 and 1985, before falling off the calendar as a result of the Apartheid regime in the country at the time.
It returned in 1992 after the end of Apartheid, and again in 1993, but after the Kyalami circuit was sold to the South African Automobile Association, it fell off the calendar again, this time for financial reasons.
In recent years, appetite for a Grand Prix in Africa has ramped up, not least from F1 chief Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem, both of whom have put their support behind the concept.
Domenicali was reportedly in talks with the Kyalami circuit operators about a return in 2022, although that did not come to fruition.
Nigeria and Rwanda then both proposed races in 2024. Although Nigeria scrapped its plans to bid for a Grand Prix, Rwanda did not, and its persistence now looks likely to have paid off.
Rwanda has increased its standing in global sport in recent years, drawing international events to the country, the most prominent of which was cycling’s 2025 UCI Road World Championships, which was staged on the streets of Kigali.
However, the country's growing presence in global elite sport, primarily through the aforementioned hosting and a string of high-profile soccer sponsorships, has drawn criticism from human rights organizations accusing the ruling Paul Kagame regime of sportswashing.
The Visit Rwanda sponsorship push is accused of being a smokescreen for both domestic human rights abuses in the country and the invasion of Democratic Republic of Congo territory involving Rwanda-backed rebel group M23.
The invasion led the UK government to suspend aid to Rwanda in the same month over its support for M23. Rwandan officials have always publicly stated that any involvement they have in DR Congo is to protect their security interests.
The country has also been criticized for spending lavish eight-figure sponsorship sums on tourism promotion at a time when around 27.4% of the country’s population is living in poverty.
It is likely that this new agreement, partnered with a lavish infrastructure project centred on a new F1-standard racing circuit, may also attract similar criticism.
On the prospect of the decade-long contract, Kagame himself added: “This ten-year partnership is also an investment in Rwanda’s future. The circuit in Bugesera, alongside the new international airport, will bring jobs, skills, tourism and new business to our country and our region for decades to come, because our aim was never a single race weekend, but a lasting benefit for our people.”
Visit Rwanda has sponsorship deals in place with the likes of Germany’s Bayern Munich and Spain’s Atletico Madrid, while France’s Paris Saint-Germain recently renewed their own agreement with the tourism brand, running through 2028.
