Formula 1 will return to Africa in the 2030s with a new race in Rwanda.
The 10-year agreement will begin “early” in the next decade but F1 and the FIA have not specified when.
A new purpose-built circuit will be built in Bugusera, around 40 kilometres south of the Rwandan capital Kigali, with details such as the first race date and development milestones to be announced “in due course”.
It will be F1’s first race in Africa since 1993, when the last South African GP at Kyalami was held.
F1 has been trying to pull off a return to the continent for several years with Kyalami repeatedly in the frame for a return.
But a viable deal was never concluded, even though it seemed to be close at times and as recently as early last year Kyalami hoped to push on with circuit modifications to achieve the required FIA Grade 1 status pending successfully returning to the F1 calendar.
At the same time, negotiations with Rwanda officials progressed more successfully and F1 has described it as achieving “the right foundations, with the best partner” for a sustainable grand prix.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has long been an advocate for an African race being added to the schedule and even suggested he would delay his retirement to be able to take part in such a grand prix.
However, with Rwanda having an unknown entry point vaguely in the early 2030s, it seems highly unlikely that Hamilton - now 41 - will still be racing, whereas a Kyalami event could have been added in a shorter timeframe.
Rwanda has expanded its international events and sports portfolio in recent years by hosting various competitions and building its profile with sponsorship, for example with top-level football teams.
The Visit Rwanda campaign has been called a sportswashing effort “to deflect attention from its terrible human rights record” by Amnesty International, but F1 says the new grand prix aims to establish “a legacy by supporting tourism, attracting investment, developing local talent and creating new opportunities for communities and businesses".
Paul Kagame, president of the Republic of Rwanda, said as part of the announcement that “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,” he said.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who took his organisation’s annual awards ceremony to Africa for the first time when it was hosted in Kigali in 2024, called it a “an important step in the continued global growth of motorsport” for F1 while F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said it was a “landmark moment”.
“Africa has always been part of Formula 1's future, and from the beginning we were determined to return in the right way, with the right partner, a long-term commitment and a clear vision for creating meaningful impact,” Domenicali said.