As RaceFans reports, Formula 1 is finally returning to Africa for the first time since 1993 through a massive 10-year agreement to race in Rwanda. It is a wild move for the championship, which has never previously held a round of the world championship in the country. Unusually, no exact year for the inaugural race has been confirmed yet, with F1 stating only that it will join the calendar in the early 2030s.
A brand new circuit is going to be constructed in Bugesera, located in the Eastern province of Rwanda. The track will sit 40 kilometres south of Rwanda's capital Kigali, a city that previously hosted the FIA's General Assembly and award ceremony in 2024. F1 published an image of the planned circuit, which was created by Tilke Gmbh and Wurz Design, but gave no details of its specifications. F1 noted that further details regarding the inaugural race date, circuit development milestones and race weekend plans will be announced in due course.
According to Rwanda's president Paul Kagame, the event will be called the Formula 1 African Grand Prix. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali called the announcement a landmark moment for Formula 1. Domenicali added that with Rwanda joining the calendar from the next decade, the sport will race in every inhabited continent, bringing the world championship closer than ever to fans around the globe.
Looking back at history, F1 first raced in Africa in 1958, when Morocco's Ain-Diab circuit held the finale round of the season, though the series never returned to the northern African state. The championship later found a longer-term home in South Africa, first at a track in East London and then at the popular Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg. South Africa held 23 grands prix, although the series faced growing criticism for holding events under the country's racist Apartheid regime, which led some teams to boycott the 1985 race.
Following a seven-year absence, F1 returned to a heavily revised Kyalami circuit for two races in the nineties. Up to 40 years may have passed since F1's last race in Africa by the time Rwanda hosts its first grand prix.
