Autosport, BBC Sport and RaceFans have reported:

Formula 1 will return to Africa with a new Grand Prix in Rwanda under a 10-year agreement, with the first race expected in the early 2030s. The event, officially called the Formula 1 African Grand Prix, presented by Visit Rwanda, will take place on a purpose-built circuit in Bugesera, about 40 kilometres, or 25 miles, south of the capital Kigali and beside the city’s under-construction international airport. It will be the first Formula 1 race on the continent since the 1993 South African Grand Prix.

The deal was announced Tuesday at a press conference in Kigali attended by Rwanda President Paul Kagame, Formula 1 chief executive and president Stefano Domenicali, and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The agreement sets a 10-year term, while the precise inaugural race date depends on construction. The event could be held as early as 2030, but Formula 1 has described its return as taking place from the early 2030s.

The planned track is a 6-kilometre, 17-corner road course running anti-clockwise. It is designed to be fast and flowing, with at least 197 metres of elevation change per lap, making use of the contours of Rwanda’s hilly landscape. Former Formula 1 driver Alex Wurz and his design company, Wurz Design, created the circuit; long-time track architect Tilke and DAR will oversee its construction alongside Wurz Design.

Formula 1 said the circuit would work with the natural landscape, using elevation changes to offer a challenging racing experience and strong viewing opportunities for spectators. The sport has not released further specifications for the track. It said details on the inaugural race date, construction milestones and race-weekend plans would be announced later.

The race’s place in the annual schedule has not been decided. Formula 1 is committed to keeping the season to no more than 24 races and is likely to avoid Rwanda’s main rainy season, which runs from March to May. The country also has a shorter, less disruptive rainy period from October to November.

Kagame said the agreement ended more than three decades without a championship race in Africa. “For more than three decades, the world's premier motorsport championship has raced without this continent, and that changes with this agreement,” he said. He said Rwanda was proud to host the race and share it with more than 100 million fans across Africa, including young people who should be able to see the sport at home and imagine themselves as engineers, technicians, entrepreneurs and future drivers.

Kagame said the circuit and airport would support jobs, skills, tourism and new business in Rwanda and the region for decades. “Our aim was never a single race weekend, but a lasting benefit for our people,” he said. The project is part of a broader Rwanda Development Board investment plan covering tourism, infrastructure and commercial development.

Domenicali called the agreement “a landmark moment for Formula 1” and said Rwanda’s arrival on the calendar would put the championship on every inhabited continent. He said Africa had long been part of Formula 1’s future and that the return was being pursued with a long-term commitment and a partner focused on meaningful impact. Domenicali also said the event could bring lasting economic and social benefits through tourism, investment, skills development and local business growth, adding that Africa has more than 100 million Formula 1 fans and the number is growing rapidly.

Ben Sulayem described the return as a historic moment and a step in motorsport’s global growth. He said Rwanda had shown a strong commitment to delivering a world-class event, and that the FIA would work with Formula One Management and its partners to develop the circuit to the highest international standards. A Formula 1 spokesperson said the championship had an opportunity to bring its passion to 100 million people across Africa and that sport could be a positive force for good.

Formula 1 hopes the race will expand its profile in Africa, a less explored market for the sport than Europe, Asia and the Americas. The announcement is also expected to draw criticism from human rights groups, which have accused Rwanda of sportswashing. Similar objections have followed the country’s sponsorship arrangements with Premier League clubs Arsenal and Aston Villa.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda’s neighbour to the east, has filed a case against Rwanda at the International Court of Justice. It accuses Rwanda of breaching multiple international treaties concerning genocide prevention, racial discrimination, women’s rights and torture. The sources did not report a response from Rwanda to those allegations in connection with the race announcement.

Formula 1 first raced in Africa in 1958, when the final round of the World Championship was held at Morocco’s Aïn-Diab circuit. The championship did not return to Morocco. South Africa later became its longer-term African host, with races in East London from 1960 to 1966, then at Kyalami near Johannesburg from 1976 to 1985. The country held 23 grands prix overall, though apartheid-era races faced criticism; some teams boycotted the 1985 event. After a seven-year absence, Formula 1 returned to a revised Kyalami for races in 1992 and 1993 as apartheid was coming to an end.

South Africa has held talks with Formula 1 in recent years about returning at venues including Kyalami and Cape Town, but no agreement was reached. Rwanda’s discussions with the championship accelerated in 2024 as the country sought major sporting events to support tourism and business. Kigali hosted the FIA’s annual prize-giving ceremony that year, attended by world champions including Max Verstappen, who collected his fourth Formula 1 title trophy. The city hosted the UCI Road World Championships in cycling the following year.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has long supported a Formula 1 return to Africa. “For the past six years I've been fighting in the background to get a grand prix,” he said earlier this year, describing conversations with stakeholders and asking why the sport raced on every other continent but not Africa. He said he had especially enjoyed Kenya and Rwanda, which he called spectacular places where he could imagine living, as well as South Africa, and said they could be good potential venues.