Formula 1 returning to Africa after decades

The racing championship signed a 10-year agreement to stage a Grand Prix in Rwanda beginning in the early 2030s

Formula 1 will return to Africa for the first time in more than three decades after signing a 10-year agreement to host a Grand Prix in Rwanda, the racing championship announced on Tuesday. 

The first race is expected to take place in the early 2030s, once a new circuit has been completed. The purpose-built track will be located in Bugesera, around 40 km south of the capital, Kigali, near the new international airport. Developed under the Rwanda Development Board, the circuit will meet the FIA’s safety and technical standards. 

South Africa hosted Formula 1 races from 1962 to 1985. The championship returned to the country for two more races in 1992 and 1993. Morocco is the only other African country to have hosted a Formula 1 World Championship race, held in Casablanca in 1958.

The championship estimates that it now has more than 100 million fans across the continent, with nearly 60% of followers in key sub-Saharan African markets under the age of 35.

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“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,” Rwandan President Paul Kagame said.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem described the return as “a historic moment” for the sport and “an important step in the continued global growth of motorsport.”

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said Rwanda’s inclusion will bring the championship to every inhabited continent. The date of the inaugural Grand Prix has yet to be announced.

Africa already hosts major motorsport competitions, including Kenya’s Safari Rally, part of the World Rally Championship, and the African Rally Championship, which features events in Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. The continent was also home to the Dakar Rally before the event moved to South America in 2009 and has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020.

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Other major sporting events are also coming to Africa. Kenya will become the first African country to host the World Athletics Championships in 2029, Morocco will co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, and Senegal will stage the 2026 Youth Olympic Games – the first Olympic event on the continent.