Formula One will return to Africa in the early 2030s after signing a 10-year deal with Rwanda, bringing the sport back to the continent after a 40-year absence.

The East African nation secured the agreement on Tuesday, marking a major victory in its years-long campaign to land a Grand Prix. Rwanda joins the F1 calendar once construction finishes on a new purpose-built circuit in Bugesera.

The last F1 race in Africa took place in 1993, when Alain Prost won the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami.

Rwanda’s sports investment strategy

Rwanda has spent heavily on sport in recent years to reshape its global image and draw tourists and investors. The landlocked nation remains widely known for the 1994 genocide that killed an estimated 800 000 people.

The government has poured money into football sponsorship deals with Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, partnered with the NBA to host its African basketball league, and staged the 2025 cycling world championships.

President Paul Kagame formally announced Rwanda’s F1 bid when the country hosted an FIA gathering in December 2024.

“Today belongs to Africa,” Kagame said. “For more than three decades, the world’s premier motorsport championship has raced without this continent, and that changes with this agreement.”

Sports-washing debate continues

Critics argue Rwanda uses major sporting events to distract from human rights concerns, including a harsh crackdown on opposition voices and dissent. They label this approach “sports-washing”.

Others dismiss such criticism as Western hypocrisy, pointing out that no one applied the same label to this year’s World Cup in the United States, despite similar rights concerns.

Hamilton gets his African race

The announcement delivers a long-held wish for Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion who has repeatedly called for an African race on the F1 calendar.

Hamilton backed Rwanda’s plans in 2024, describing the country as “one of my favourite places”.

F1 president Stefano Domenicali called Tuesday a “landmark moment” for the sport.

“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,” he said.

South Africa still in the running

South Africa has also been pushing to host an F1 race. The country’s sports minister said last week that South Africa remains a contender.

Gayton McKenzie posted on X last Thursday that Rwanda “have worked on it longer than (South Africa) and deserve it”.

“Remember though that one country, Italy, has had two F1s a year, and some react like a continent of 55 countries can only get one,” McKenzie wrote. He predicted South Africa “will get F1, even before 2030”.

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