Rwandan president Paul Kagame has announced his country is bidding to host a race from motor racing's top-tier Formula 1 (F1).
Reports have suggested that the new track would be near a new international airport under construction at Bugesera, 40 kilometers from Kigali, Rwanda’s capital.
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F1 has not held a race in Africa since the last South African Grand Prix in Kyalami, north of Johannesburg, in 1993.
The new track is set to be designed by a company run by Austrian former F1 driver Alexander Wurz.
Kagame said: "I am happy to formally announce that Rwanda is bidding to bring the thrill of racing back to Africa by hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix. A big thank you to (Formula One chief executive) Stefano (Domenicali) and the entire team at F1, for the good progress in our discussions so far.
"I assure you that we are approaching this opportunity with the seriousness and commitment which it deserves. Together we will build something we can all be proud of."
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By GlobalDataThe appetite for a return to Africa appears to be there within F1 circles.
In August, seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton said: "The time is 100% right. We can't be adding races in other locations and continue to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world just takes from. No one gives anything to Africa.
"I think having a Grand Prix there will really be able to highlight just how great the place is and bring in tourism and all sorts of things. Why are we not on that continent?"
The Kyalami circuit looked set to return to the calendar in 2023, until a deal to bring the race back fell through in August 2022.
In a recent interview with Sportcal, Jefferson Slack, the managing director of commercial and marketing for the Aston Martin F1 team, said a race in Africa "would make a lot of sense."
The rise of F1’s worldwide appeal has seen the series add new locations in recent years and expand its calendar to a record 24 races.
The likes of Doha (Qatar), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Miami and Las Vegas (US) have been added, while Spain will have an additional race from 2026 with Madrid joining the grid.
Since the turn of the millennium, 17 new venues have joined the F1 calendar, while a handful of other tracks – including Zandvoort in the Netherlands and Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City – have made returns.
Some other tracks, like Hanoi Street Circuit in Vietnam and Igora Drive in Russia, have signed contracts with F1 but have never been raced at.
Meanwhile, the Red Bull-owned RB Formula One team, the sister team of 2023 champions Red Bull, is set to compete as Racing Bulls next season, according to the official entry list published by the FIA governing body.
The team formerly known as AlphaTauri, Scuderia Toro Rosso, and Minardi switched to the unpopular Visa Cash App RB (shortened to VCARB or just RB) for the 2024 season, however, the team will now be known as Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.
The Italy-based RB had denied in January that the initials stood for Racing Bulls, despite that being the registered company name.
Team chief executive Peter Bayer clarified at this month's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: "We’ve been struggling to a certain extent with making it clear to people what the team name is, and seen so many versions. In January, it all happened within weeks and we’ve been probably rushing a couple of things.”
