Rwanda: Rwanda Secures 10-Year Deal to Host Formula 1 From Early 2030s

What the report says

Rwanda has agreed to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix for 10 years starting in the early 2030s, according to the AllAfrica-distributed report from Daba Finance. The race would mark Formula 1’s return to Africa for the first time since the 1993 South African Grand Prix, and would be staged on a new circuit planned for Bugesera, southeast of Kigali, near the country’s new international airport.

Formula 1 said the venue is expected to meet FIA Grade 1 standards, the top category needed to host a championship race, and that the track should be ready early in the next decade. The article said the deal makes Rwanda the first confirmed new Formula 1 host country since Saudi Arabia and Qatar joined the calendar in 2021. It would also give the series a race on every inhabited continent.

President Paul Kagame said the project is meant to support tourism, investment, jobs and skills development, with the wider Bugesera development also expected to include sports, tourism, infrastructure and commercial projects. The report said the first race date has not yet been set and will depend on construction progress.

The announcement is significant because it revives long-running discussion about bringing Formula 1 back to Africa. The article noted that South Africa remains interested in hosting a race as well, while Rwanda has been expanding its use of international sport as part of a broader tourism and investment strategy.