‘Take a breath’ – F1 Rwanda critics urged to hold back on early verdicts

Rwanda President Paul Kagame has delivered a clear message to naysayers after the African Grand Prix in Rwanda was announced on Tuesday.

Critics of F1’s newest Grand Prix have been instructed to “take a breath”.

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F1 will visit Rwanda for the first time in the early 2030s, after a 10-year deal was announced at a launch event attended by PlanetF1.com this week.

Unlike other recent additions, the track will be a purpose-built facility, not a street layout, and will fit into the natural landscape, with almost 200m of total elevation change promised.

Upon the announcement, there was a visible level of criticism across social media.

Although this was tempered by a general sentiment that F1 should be returning to Africa for the first time since 1993, Kagame delivered a message to these critics when announcing the venture.

“I invite those people to take a deep breath, calm down, and wait to see what is coming,” he said.

“First, we are people like the people of other parts of the world; there is nothing, no event, nothing that is bigger than people.

“So we are a small country. Formula One is big, big; there’s no question about it. But it is not a ball just in itself.

“In fact, Formula One is part of the big picture of what Rwanda has to do. There are many things that Rwanda has undertaken to do, and we have made progress as a country, as people, but also, for this particular [instance], Formula One as a sport for Africa, we are not looking at just Rwanda alone.

“We are looking at Rwanda in the context of the continent, and we have indeed ambitions to bring in other African brothers and sisters to participate.”

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Rwanda is no stranger to hosting major sports events, with the NBA Africa League taking place across the continent, as well as in the country, while the FIA recently held its General Assembly and end-of-season prize-giving gala in the capital city, Kigali.

“There is more coming, and we are looking forward [to it],” Kagame added.

“We are excited to have Formula One, and we also convince those naysayers that they can be part of it, and we are going to have investors.

“In fact, is going to be; the effort is associated with a big private sector effort. We have friends here in the audience who have come to join us and are part of that. There are others who are not able to make it, but wanted to be here with us.

“So it’s Rwandan, it’s African, and it’s a big deal that we are very happy to be associated with.”

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