Formula 1 will return to Africa in the early 2030s, once a new circuit is built in Rwanda.
The most recent F1 race on the continent was the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami
Under a 10-year deal, the African Grand Prix, presented by Visit Rwanda, will race on a track to be constructed in Bugesera, located near the capital of Kigali.
The inaugural race year has yet to be determined.
Rwanda president Paul Kagame announced his country’s intention to bid for an F1 race back in 2024.
The F1 community was initially skeptical since Rwanda doesn’t have a racing circuit capable of hosting a major motorsports event. However, the Bugesera track will erase that worry.
“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,” Kagame said Tuesday in a statement.
He added: “Today belongs to Africa. For more than three decades, the world’s premier motorsport championship has raced without this continent, and that changes with this agreement.
“Rwanda is proud to host the Formula 1 African Grand Prix, and to share this moment with more than 100 million fans across Africa, many of them young people who deserve to see the sport at home and to see themselves in it: as engineers, technicians, entrepreneurs and, one day, drivers.
“This 10-year partnership is also an investment in Rwanda’s future.”
–Field Level Media
