NAIROBI — With Formula 1 set to hold the Africa Grand Prix in Rwanda, the continent’s first race in decades, beginning sometime in the “early 2030s,” Paul Kagame, the country’s leader, has secured a long-sought international prize.
It comes with excitement over the sport’s return to Africa, along with the promise of visitors, money and prestige — and with international concerns over his government’s authoritarian rule, rights record and involvement in the civil war in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Standing beside Kagame, the president of the sport’s governing body, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, unveiled the new venture in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, earlier this month.
While the announcement came with due fanfare, major details remain to be hashed out, including the date, and even the year, of the first race under the 10-year deal. It is set to be held on a track in the Bugesera district south of Kigali, which needs to be built from scratch. The land set aside, according to F1, would host a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) circuit with 17 corners.
A new, high-volume airport already under construction in partnership with Qatar would also need to be completed.
Racing fans in Africa celebrated the news, as did heads of state, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose country hosted the continent’s most recent Grand Prix, in 1993, and has been pushing for its own new F1 event.
“A day to be remembered!!” Queen Kalimpinya, Rwanda’s first female rally driver, wrote in a post to social media. “The African Grand Prix will be hosted at home. What an overwhelming joy!! What a moment for Rwanda, and for Africa. A dream becoming reality.”
But human rights groups, which have long accused Rwanda of using international sports to paper over its record of rights abuses, in part by way of “Visit Rwanda” emblazoned on jerseys around the world as part of sponsorship deals, are criticizing the move.
“Visit Rwanda,” a public-relations campaign by the country’s government launched in 2018 to promote tourism, signed partnerships including with Britain’s Arsenal Football Club in 2018 and France’s Paris Saint-Germain in 2019. Later, it expanded to NBA teams, the LA Clippers and LA Rams, drawing criticism from fans who accused their teams of playing a role in “sportswashing” the country’s reputation.
Under Kagame, Rwanda has developed rapidly in a remarkable turnaround following the 1994 genocide that left 800,000 people, mostly from the Tutsi ethnic group, dead. He has presided over rapid advances in health care and quality of life. But Rwanda has also imposed harsh crackdowns on dissent and played a role in rounds of conflict in Congo, backing violent rebel groups that kill civilians and loot resources.
“Rwanda’s human rights record, repression against its own people, targeting journalists and its role in displacement of people in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo through its involvement in the conflict in eastern Congo should not be ignored,” said Linda Ngari, a Nairobi-based disinformation researcher. “The aim is to normalize ‘Visit Rwanda’ as a feel-good tourism campaign and to buy legitimacy through sports by reaching wider audience and distracting from the actual rights violations the government is perpetrating.”
Rwanda denies having supported Congo’s M23 rebel group, but rights organizations and the United Nations say it is a key backer. The group has seized significant territory in mineral-rich eastern Congo, and is accused of rights violations including mass killings and rapes across eastern Congo.
The United Arab Emirates is a major hub for Congolese smuggled gold routed through Rwanda, according to Transparency International. Rwanda has denied the claims of smuggling Congolese gold.
Rwanda, as it polishes its image as a center for African sports and tourism, has hosted the Africa Taekwondo Championships in 2022, the Tour du Rwanda cycling race multiple times, hosted multiple Cricket T20 tournaments, and has a deal with the Basketball Africa League.
A spokesperson for the government of Rwanda did not respond to a request for comment.
“We have a long track record of delivering significant economic, social and cultural value to our host nations,” Formula 1 said in a statement on its move to race in Rwanda. “Through this race we have the opportunity to inspire and bring the passion of F1 to our more than 100 million fans across Africa and firmly believe that sport can be a positive force for good.”
The LA Clippers, The Rams and the Basketball Africa League have ongoing partnerships with Visit Rwanda, as do Paris Saint-German and Aston Villa F.C.
“This is straight out of Rwanda’s playbook, and it’s disturbing that F1 does not realize or maybe didn’t do sufficient due diligence to understand what Rwanda’s role is in the Great Lakes region, how they’re supporting an abusive armed group in eastern Congo, a group that has committed war crimes, gang-rapes women and girls, and summarily executes men,” said Lane Hartill, a researcher focused on central and East Africa for rights group Amnesty International.
In March, the United States placed the Rwandan military and at least four top officials under sanctions over their role in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fighting involving the M23. The European Union also placed sanctions on at least five M23 officials in 2025 for rights violations.
F1’s plans in Rwanda are not the only ones to come under criticism by rights groups. Races in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE have drawn criticism for deflecting attention from rights abuses.
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