Formula 1 Signs 10-Year Deal to Race in Rwanda From the Early 2030s
Formula 1 has agreed a 10-year deal to race in Rwanda from the early 2030s, returning to Africa for the first time since the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami.
The event will be known as the Formula 1 African Grand Prix, a name confirmed by Rwandan president Paul Kagame, and will be presented by Visit Rwanda. No date has been set beyond the early 2030s window.
A Purpose-Built Circuit South of Kigali
The race will be held at a new venue, the RISE Motordrome, to be built in Bugesera in Rwanda's Eastern Province, roughly 40 kilometres south of Kigali and adjacent to Kigali International Airport.
The track will be constructed to FIA Grade 1 standards and is being designed to make use of the area's natural elevation changes. Design work on the final layout is ongoing, led by WurzDesign, the practice headed by former driver Alex Wurz, working with Tilke Engineers and Architects, the firm responsible for most of the circuits added to the calendar this century.
The venue forms part of a wider development project led by the Rwanda Development Board, and is intended to operate year-round for motorsport, events and conferences rather than solely for one grand prix weekend. Formula 1 has released an image of the project but no technical specifications, and says further details on the date, construction milestones and race weekend will follow.
Every Inhabited Continent
For Formula 1 the deal closes an obvious gap. Stefano Domenicali, the sport's president and chief executive, called it a landmark moment and noted that Rwanda's arrival means the championship will race on every inhabited continent.
"Africa has always been part of Formula 1's future," Domenicali said, adding that the sport had wanted to return to the continent with the right partner.
The commercial case rests on an audience the sport has never been able to serve directly. Formula 1 counts more than 100 million fans across Africa, and close to 60 per cent of its followers in key sub-Saharan markets are under 35, a demographic profile considerably younger than its established markets. Rwanda itself has a population of around 14.6 million.
Four Decades Away From the Continent
Formula 1's African history is short and interrupted. The first race on the continent was the 1958 season finale at Morocco's Ain-Diab circuit, a venue the championship never visited again.
South Africa was the sport's longer-term base there, hosting 23 grands prix at East London and later Kyalami. That relationship was never straightforward, and criticism over apartheid led several teams to boycott the 1985 race. After a seven-year absence, Formula 1 returned to a substantially rebuilt Kyalami for two races in the early 1990s before leaving again in 1993.
By the time the Rwandan race arrives, as much as 40 years may have passed since the championship last visited Africa.
Drivers Had Been Pushing For It
The gap had become a recurring theme among the current grid, and several drivers had called for a return before the deal was announced.
"I've always said that we need to have a Grand Prix in Africa," Lewis Hamilton said. George Russell made the point in starker terms, observing that "Africa is the only [inhabited] continent we don't race on." Max Verstappen framed it as part of a broader ambition: "We want to race in a lot of different places in the world."
Rwanda has spent several years positioning itself as a host for international sport and events. It staged the FIA Awards Ceremony in 2024, has hosted the UCI Road World Championships, an ICC Women's Challenge Trophy, the 2023 FIFA Congress and the Basketball Africa League, and had publicly declared its intention to bid for a grand prix in late 2024.
