F1 returns to Africa with Rwanda signing 10-year deal

In short:

Rwanda will host the first Formula 1 grand prix in Africa since 1993, with an agreement on a 10-year deal.

The race will be called the African Grand Prix, and held at a circuit that is yet to be built in Bugesera, about 40km south of the capital Kigali.

What's next?

The first African Grand Prix held at Rwanda could happen as early as 2030.

Africa will return to the Formula 1 calendar for the first time since 1993 with Rwanda set to host a grand prix from the early 2030s in a 10-year deal.

Formula 1 last raced on the continent at South Africa's Kyalami Circuit to the north of Johannesburg and has long sought a way back.

The race will be called the African Grand Prix, and held at a circuit that is yet to be built alongside a new international airport under construction at Bugesera, about 40 kilometres south of the capital Kigali.

"Today is a landmark moment for Formula 1," F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said at a press conference with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and International Automobile Federation (FIA) head Mohammed Ben Sulayem on Tuesday.

"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."

Kagame announced his landlocked East African country's bid two years ago.

The purpose-built grade one track, designed by Austrian former driver Alex Wurz with long-time F1 architect Tilke also involved, is expected to be completed early in the next decade and be fast and flowing with significant changes of elevation and putting spectators close to the action.

Rwanda Development Board chief executive Jean-Guy Afrika said the track would have a 100,000 capacity and also be a multi-purpose facility with year-round utilisation as a concert and exhibition venue.

"We want to make it bigger than just Rwanda. We want to make it the moment when the sport came back to Africa and then never left," he told a press conference, adding that the initiative would likely be "powered by the private sector and coordinated by the government".

Rwanda will be the third African country to host a round of the championship since the start in 1950, with Morocco putting on a race outside Casablanca in 1958.

Reuters

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