long-held ambition<\/a> for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, the only Black driver in F1. The 41-year-old British driver has said he has been \u201cfighting in the background\u201d for years to have a race in Africa.<\/p>\nExactly when the first race will be held in Rwanda remains unclear. F1 said a purpose-built circuit was expected to be completed \u201cearly in the next decade\u201d in Bugesera, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Kigali.<\/p>\n
The track will be built near an under-construction airport serving the capital and will \u201cwork in harmony with the natural landscape,\u201d using hills and dips in the landscape to challenge drivers, F1 said.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is a landmark moment for Formula 1,\u201d F1 President and chief executive Stefano Domenicali said. \u201cWith 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last time F1 raced in Africa was the South African Grand Prix in 1993.<\/p>\n
Rwanda aims for challenging circuit and economic gains<\/p>\n
Rwanda becomes the first confirmed new host nation for F1 since Qatar and Saudi Arabia joined the schedule in 2021.<\/p>\n
With a GDP per capita of just over $1,100, Rwanda will stand out on a race calendar that features glitzy destinations like Las Vegas, Miami, Monaco and Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n
Kagame said the country aims to use the race to develop sports infrastructure and tourism and to diversify revenue.<\/p>\n
Under Kagame, Rwanda has sponsored major European soccer teams and developed a basketball partnership with the NBA, as well as hosting the world cycling championships.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all aimed at promoting a positive image of a country still often known internationally because of the 1994 genocide.<\/p>\n
Hosting F1 would take that strategy to a new level.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, our country will be watched on the global stage. And this comes with investments and creations of jobs, especially for the youth,\u201d Betty Mukamurenzi, a university IT student in Kigali, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Businessman James Ruzindana said that \u201cfor businesses, it is a challenge for us to up our game in terms of having the right products that can be consumed by those who are visiting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The F1 spotlight could also bring renewed scrutiny of Rwanda\u2019s human rights record and accusations of \u201csportswashing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Human rights groups have accused Kagame of repressive methods keep his grip on power. The U.N. has accused Rwanda of backing rebels in neighboring Congo, and Congolese officials have condemned its soccer sponsorships.<\/p>\n
Rwanda set to outpace South Africa<\/p>\n
There have been rival projects to bring F1 back to Africa, with plans in recent years regarding three different potential venues in South Africa and one in Morocco.<\/p>\n
South Africa Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie issued a statement last week congratulating Rwanda, even before the decision was official, but still insisted his country \u201cwill get F1,\u201d too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are happy for Rwanda\u2019s 2030 F1. They have worked on it longer than SA and deserve it,\u201d McKenzie wrote on X. \u201cRemember though that one country, Italy, has had two F1s a year, and some react like a continent of 55 countries can only get one. SA will get F1, even before 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no mention of South Africa in F1\u2019s statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
F1 racing in Africa was linked to apartheid<\/p>\n
Many of F1\u2019s previous races in Africa were overshadowed by the policy of apartheid in South Africa.<\/p>\n
F1 and its teams faced increasing criticism through the 1970s and 1980s, culminating in some teams boycotting the 1985 race in South Africa, which was facing various international sanctions and boycott campaigns at the time.<\/p>\n
As South Africa began to dismantle the system of racial segregation and oppression, F1 returned for two more races at the Kyalami circuit in 1992 and 1993, the last of those less than a year before the country\u2019s first democratic elections where millions of Black South Africans were able to vote.<\/p>\n
F1 also held a Moroccan Grand Prix in 1958, the only time Morocco was part of the world championship. A project was announced last year to build a track to bring F1 back to the North African nation but there have been few updates since.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Formula 1 will return to Africa with a grand prix in Rwanda starting early next decade once a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":931845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-931844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}