Motor racing-Rwanda to bring F1 back to Africa for first time since 1993

KIGALI, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Africa will return to the Formula One calendar for the first time this century with Rwanda agreeing a 10-year deal to host a grand prix from the early 2030s, the sport announced on Tuesday.

Formula One last raced on the continent in 1993 at South Africa's Kyalami circuit to the north of Johannesburg and has long sought a way back.

"Today is a landmark moment for Formula One," said Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali at a press conference in the capital Kigali with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and International Automobile Federation (FIA) head Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

"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 One'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."

MORE THAN JUST A GRAND PRIX

Kagame announced his landlocked East African country's bid two years ago, with plans for a purpose-built Grade One track near a new international airport under construction at Bugesera some 40km (25 miles) south of Kigali. The circuit is expected to be completed early in the next decade.

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

Domenicali said the deal with Rwanda was about much more than hosting a grand prix, talking up economic and social benefits through tourism and investment.

"For our fans this is an especially exciting moment," he added. "Africa is home to more than 100 million Formula One fans and that number continues to grow rapidly."

Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, now 41 and racing for Ferrari, has said repeatedly that the time is right for a race in Africa and pushed for it to happen.

"I've always said that we need to have a Grand Prix in Africa. It is, for me, the most important continent and the most beautiful continent. We're on all the other continents but that one and there should be no reason for it," he told reporters in Singapore last weekend.

South Africa has also been keen to host a race in Cape Town or Kyalami, with sports minister Gayton Mackenzie saying recently that could still be possible.

"We are happy for Rwanda's 2030 F1," he wrote on X last week amid reports that an announcement was imminent. "They have worked on it longer than SA and deserve it.

"Some react like a continent of 55 countries can only get one," he added, noting that Italy had until recently hosted two races a year and suggesting South Africa could still be in the frame.

REBUILDING AFTER 1994 GENOCIDE

Kagame has won praise from Western and regional leaders for helping to end the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and rebuilding the country into an attractive destination for investment and aid.

He also stands accused of a crackdown on critics at home, and supporting the M23 rebel group in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, who rights groups say are guilty of killings, rapes and other rights abuses.

The 'Visit Rwanda' tourism campaign has carried the country's name into soccer through club sponsorships, basketball and cycling, with the 2025 UCI Road World Championships held there as well as the 2023 FIFA Congress and 2024 FIA Awards ceremony.

Formula One, with global attention, would represent another step up.

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

"This 10-year partnership is also an investment in Rwanda's future. The circuit... alongside the new international airport, will bring jobs, skills, tourism and new business to our country and our region for decades to come."