Africa has waited 33 years for a Formula One race. It has now been promised one on a track that does not exist yet.
Rwanda and Formula One announced a 10-year agreement in Kigali on Tuesday to stage the Formula 1 African Grand Prix, presented by Visit Rwanda. The Rwanda Formula 1 deal brings the championship back to the continent for the first time since Kyalami hosted the South African Grand Prix in 1993
The first race is expected in the early 2030s. No exact date has been given, and Formula One says it will confirm the inaugural race and construction milestones later.
The circuit will rise at Bugesera, about 40 kilometres south of Kigali and next door to the new international airport. Designed by former driver Alex Wurz, the plans unveiled in Kigali show a six-kilometre lap with 17 corners and 197 metres of elevation gain.
President Paul Kagame said the Rwanda Formula 1 deal was never meant to be about a single race weekend. He promised “a lasting benefit for our people”, from jobs and skills to tourism. He also told a press conference that the agreement would “change how Africa is perceived in the world of sport”.
The road to the agreement was long. Kagame first announced Rwanda’s bid in December 2024, at the FIA General Assembly in Kigali, where Max Verstappen collected his fourth world title trophy. In 2025, the city hosted cycling’s UCI Road World Championships.
South Africa had the history, the track and two years of political promises. It lost anyway.
Instead, Rwanda secured the deal despite having no circuit and no Grand Prix history.
Sports minister Gayton McKenzie had said publicly that his term would be a failure without a Grand Prix. Kyalami does not currently hold the FIA Grade 1 status required, and in February he admitted the government had underestimated what hosting demands.
His reaction last week was gracious. “They have worked on it longer than SA and deserve it,” he wrote. He added that South Africa would still get F1 “even before 2030”.
Then comes the money. The hosting fee has not been disclosed, so nobody outside the room knows what the Rwanda Formula 1 deal will cost.
The Independent reported that Formula One officials in Kigali stressed they had been assured the project would use the Rwanda Development Board’s investment plan. They said it would not use diverted state funds.
The airport is another major question for the Rwanda Formula 1 deal. Backed by Qatar Airways, which holds 60 per cent, the $2 billion project was once due in 2026. RwandAir chief executive Yvonne Manzi Makolo has since put its opening between 2027 and 2028.
Delays like that matter. Vietnam is the cautionary tale: Hanoi was meant to stage a race in 2020 and never did.
Then there is the criticism. Amnesty International UK’s Felix Jakens called the agreement “a sportswashing prize for the Rwandan authorities”. He pointed to arbitrary detention and curbs on free speech at home.
Eastern Congo is the other charge. UN experts have accused Kigali of backing the M23 rebels there, which Rwanda denies. In February 2025, Congo’s foreign minister, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, wrote to Formula One chief Stefano Domenicali. She urged the sport to avoid a “blood-stained association”.
Formula One’s answer is that sport can be “a positive force for good”. It also points to the audience. The sport says it has more than 100 million fans across Africa, and Domenicali says almost 60 per cent of those in key sub-Saharan markets are under 35.
For those fans, the Rwanda Formula 1 deal is simpler. They want engines, grandstands and a ticket they can afford.
The Rwanda Formula 1 deal has the signature, the sponsor and the promise. What it still lacks is a finished track, a finished airport and an answer for its critics.
The wait is not quite over. The next few years will show whether it ends with a race or just a very good announcement.
