Formula 1 will return to Africa after more than three decades, with Rwanda confirmed as host of a new African Grand Prix. The sport announced a 10 year agreement for the Formula 1 African Grand Prix, presented by Visit Rwanda, to join the calendar in the early 2030s. The news was made public on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, and it ends a long wait for fans on the continent. The last world championship race in Africa was the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, near Johannesburg.
The deal was announced at a press conference in Kigali attended by Rwandan president Paul Kagame, F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Domenicali called it “a landmark moment for Formula 1,” adding that Rwanda’s arrival means the sport will compete on every inhabited continent. Kagame described the partnership as long overdue and said he hopes it opens the way for other races in Africa.
The exact date of the first race is still undecided. F1 expects a purpose-built circuit to be finished early in the next decade in Bugesera, roughly 40 kilometres from Kigali. The first event could take place as early as 2030, depending on when construction is completed. The track is planned near an airport that is still being built, and F1 says the design will use the area’s hills and dips to challenge drivers while working with the natural landscape. Former F1 driver Alexander Wurz, whose firm was named as designer when the bid began, has been linked with the project since it was first made public.
The agreement follows a long campaign. Kagame formally launched Rwanda’s bid in December 2024 during the FIA’s end of season gathering in Kigali, and Domenicali had described the plans as serious earlier that year.
For F1, the deal marks the first confirmed new host nation since Qatar and Saudi Arabia joined the schedule in 2021. For Rwanda, it is the latest major sporting event in a strategy aimed at tourism and economic growth.
