Formula 1 is coming back to Africa. That should be the headline, no? Instead, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the reaction to Rwanda securing the hosting deal has turned the moment into a public spat, making Kinshasa look more interested in cutting Rwanda down than celebrating a major African sporting milestone.
F1 has signed a 10-year agreement for the African Grand Prix to join the calendar in the early 2030s. The first race depends on a new circuit being built at Bugesera, near Kigali. Note that F1 last raced on the continent in 1993.
The FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, said the event should represent the continent, not just Rwanda. “It’s not called Rwanda F1, it’s called Africa,” he said during the official announcement in Kigali.
He also recalled that some people had resisted the FIA’s decision to hold its 2024 annual gathering in Kigali. “You don’t know what you are missing,” he recalled telling critics.
Indeed, Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner confessed that she warned F1 in 2025 that choosing Rwanda would be “morally indefensible.”
She says the DRC welcomes F1’s return to Africa, but argues Rwanda’s leadership should not receive the platform. She said DRC wanted it to go to and backed South Africa’s efforts to host a race.
Observers say Congo is entitled to make that case. But timing and tone matter. When the first response to an African country landing a global event is to argue that it should have gone elsewhere, criticism can sound less like principled scrutiny and more like resentment.
Asked what he would say to people who think Formula 1 is too big for Rwanda, President Paul Kagame replied, “Take a deep breath, calm down and wait to see what is coming.” His message was that Rwanda’s size should not hold back its ambitions.
Some individual fans online have responded with congratulations and practical excitement. A Kenyan X user @xysist, imagined making the trip: “Hiyo Rwanda lazima tufike huko road trip,” roughly, “We have to get to Rwanda on a road trip.” The post went on to picture the journey once Kenya’s Rironi–Malaba road is complete. A Ugandan account, @Ugaman01, called the race “a great opportunity for East Africa.”
Nigerian X user Rilwan Balogun, who describes himself as a writer and storyteller, called the deal “solid for Rwanda” and said he was looking forward to it. In South Africa, one user, @refiloer, put the rivalry aside: “Congratulations Rwanda. As for South Africa, we dropped the ball here.”
What’s astonishing is that Rwanda extended sporting courtesy to Congo recently during the World Cup. After the Leopards beat Jamaica in a World Cup qualifying playoff and secured their place in the 2026 tournament, Rwanda’s government spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, congratulated the team. She wrote that a team bringing together people from many provinces and languages could “make a whole nation dream,” adding that its spirit of unity was too precious to turn into hate.
Makolo praised the Leopards again after their opening World Cup match, a 1–1 draw with Portugal. She said the team had given Africa “a moment of intense joy.” Congo later beat Uzbekistan 3–1 to reach the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, while DRC cries baby tears and boot leaking South Africa, the country’s Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has insisted celebrated Rwanda’s achievement. The irony is too loud to ignore.
He congratulated the Rwanda and said, “This is not a race.” Rwanda, he added, had worked on its bid longer than South Africa and deserved the opportunity. He framed another African country’s success as a win for the continent: “If Namibia wins something, it’s like we’ve won. It’s the continent.”
Nevertheless, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Rwanda was “in pole position to make all of Africa proud.” Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema also congratulated Rwanda and its people. Supporting Rwanda’s achievement does not require either country to give up its own ambitions.
There can be fair questions to ask about the cost of the event, its construction, who will benefit, and whether the gains will reach local businesses and fans. There are also legitimate questions about the image a major sporting event can lend to a government. But a broadside aimed at Rwanda risks drowning out those concerns and leaving the impression that the objection is simply that Rwanda got the deal.
Congo’s smear did not go well with the Rwanda. Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe has responded with a political counterattack, pointing Wagner toward a Belgian investigation into alleged money laundering linked to mining revenues and people connected to President Félix Tshisekedi.
Reuters reports that Belgian police searched homes linked to relatives and associates as part of an investigation.
The absurdity is that the wider story should about Africa having spent decades asking why a continent with millions of motorsport fans being left off the F1 calendar for that long.
Now a deal is in place, Congo can make its case for South Africa or another African host, but if every Rwandan achievement is met with a complaint, Kinshasa risks looking as though it is tripping over its neighbour’s success.
A better remark would have been silence or would have been to welcome the race, raise clear standards, and keep competing for the next opportunity.
