“I am happy to officially announce that Rwanda is bidding to bring the thrill of motor racing back to Africa, by hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix.” On Friday, December 13, it was in these terms that Rwandan President Paul Kagame announced that his country was going to apply for the organization of a Formula 1 race.
If an agreement is reached with the International Automobile Federation, a new Grand Prix could be organized near Bugesera airport, on the outskirts of Kigali. An idea supported by Stefano Domenicali, general director of F1, who described Rwanda’s proposal as “serious”, reports German wave.
For the German media, this “may seem strange” since “Rwanda does not even have an approved automobile circuit”. “A circuit must be designed by Alexander Wurz, a former F1 driver”explains for his part Business Insider Africa, which reminds us that there has not been a Grand Prix on the continent since the last one organized in South Africa in 1993.
Kagame’s initiative is in any case the last step in a broader strategy aimed at using sport to develop tourism and its visibility at a global level. German wave thus evokes a strategy comparable to that which has been carried out by the Gulf States for three decades to restore their image.
It involves football in particular: like the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Paul Kagame has also become closer to the very controversial president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino. “There is a link that unites Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, three of the most important football teams in the world: they all have sponsorship agreements with the government of Rwanda to promote the small African country as a destination sightseeing”, notes for its part the quot
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