Formula 1 will race in Rwanda after a “landmark” 10-year deal was agreed for a brand-new African Grand Prix.
F1 has not raced in Africa – the only habitable continent it doesn’t stage an event in – since the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
Yet last week, reports stated a deal with Rwanda was nearing completion, and on Tuesday, F1 confirmed the news at a ceremony in Kigali and revealed a lucrative decade-long deal.
Unusually, a specific date for the inaugural event was not confirmed. A new track will be built in Bugesera, 40 miles south of the capital city of Kigali and adjacent to the new Kigali International Airport, with a target completion date in the early 2030s.
The event, despite its “African Grand Prix” title, is likely to provoke questions surrounding Rwanda’s human rights record and accusations of sportswashing, as seen in the past with the country’s sponsorships of Arsenal and Aston Villa. “Visit Rwanda”, the country’s tourist brand, will sponsor the event.
The circuit, designed to be fast and flowing with significant elevation changes, will be designed by former F1 driver Alex Wurz, with an initial artistic render published on Tuesday morning.
Rwanda president Paul Kagame said: "For more than three decades, the world's premier motorsport championship has raced without this continent, and that changes with this agreement.
"Rwanda is proud to host the Formula 1 African Grand Prix, and to share this moment with more than 100 million fans across Africa, many of them young people who deserve to see the sport at home and to see themselves in it: as engineers, technicians, entrepreneurs and, one day, drivers.
"The circuit in Bugesera, alongside the new international airport, will bring jobs, skills, tourism and new business to our country and our region for decades to come, because our aim was never a single race weekend, but a lasting benefit for our people."
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali added: “Today is a landmark moment for Formula 1.
“With Rwanda joining the calendar from the next decade, our sport will race in every inhabited continent, bringing the World Championship closer than ever to fans around the globe.
“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.”
South Africa, with proposals at Kyalami and in Cape Town, was also in the running to stage a grand prix in Africa and has not ruled out coming to an agreement with the sport in the coming years, despite Rwanda’s proposal. Other African countries that were interested in hosting a race included Nigeria and Morocco.