Formula 1 Confirms Rwanda Deal to Stage African Grand Prix

Formula 1 will return to African soil for the first time in nearly four decades after sealing a 10-year agreement with Rwanda to host a grand prix by the early 2030s. A new purpose-built circuit in Bugesera, just outside the capital Kigali, will stage the race, which has been named the African Grand Prix presented by Visit Rwanda.

No precise date has been set, with F1 only confirming the event will join the calendar in the "early 2030s." Should it arrive by 2030, it would end a 37-year absence from the continent dating back to 1993, when South Africa's Kyalami circuit hosted the sport's last African grand prix. Since then, F1 has expanded aggressively into Asia and North America, leaving Africa as the only continent without a race on its schedule.

A Deal Years in the Making

The announcement, made at a ceremony in Kigali, was attended by Rwandan president Paul Kagame, F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali, and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. South Africa had continued lobbying to revive Kyalami, but Rwanda's government moved further and faster in negotiations with F1, ultimately securing the rights.

"Today belongs to Africa," Kagame said in a statement. "For more than three decades, the world's premier motorsport championship has raced without this continent, and that changes with this agreement." He framed the project as more than a single race weekend, pointing to the circuit's planned role alongside a new international airport in generating jobs, skills and tourism for Rwanda and the wider region.

Building a New Racing Hub

The Bugesera circuit is being designed by WurzDesign, the firm founded by former F1 driver Alexander Wurz, in partnership with Tilke, the engineering group behind several existing grand prix venues. The Rwanda Development Board is overseeing the broader project, which sits roughly 40km from Kigali and will include housing and hotels alongside the track itself, with ambitions to function as a year-round motorsport destination rather than a one-off event site.

Rwanda Development Board CEO Jean-Guy Afrika had outlined the thinking behind the project last December, telling The Athletic that the country viewed its new airport development as a chance to build an entirely new urban area, with the F1 circuit woven into that plan from the outset.

A Long-Standing Campaign

The push for an African race has gathered momentum in recent years, driven in part by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who has repeatedly urged F1's leadership to prioritize the continent. In 2024, he argued the sport "can't be adding races in other locations and continue to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world takes from." Speaking in Singapore after reports of an imminent Rwanda announcement surfaced last week, Hamilton reiterated his stance, calling Africa "the most important continent" and "the most beautiful continent" for the sport to embrace.

With more than 100 million fans across Africa cited by Kagame as the audience this project aims to serve, the Rwanda deal represents both a commercial expansion for F1 and a symbolic correction to a decades-long gap on its global map.