F1
After the peace agreement signed with the DRC, the Rwanda Grand Prix project relaunched?
Photo: DPPI
At a time when global conflicts are multiplying, the Middle East is raging, and Ukraine continues to suffer, there is finally some good news on the international scene. The conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda may have finally ended after more than thirty years of hostilities between neighbors.
On Friday, the two countries signed a peace agreement in Washington, led by Donald Trump, aimed in particular at putting an end to the offensive led by the M23 armed group, supported by the Rwandan government - although the latter denies the evidence - in eastern DRC. The American president welcomed a " considerable progress", while the Congolese presidency welcomed a " another diplomatic success for President Félix Tshisekedi - certainly the most important in more than thirty years."
This agreement theoretically ends three decades of war, marked by millions of deaths on the Congolese side, and paves the way for an easing of tensions in the region. A welcome peace for Rwanda, which has recently been seeking to expand its global influence by using sport as a soft power tool.
South Africa and Rwanda in the running for F1's return to Africa
In addition to having put its name on the jerseys of several football clubs, including PSG and Arsenal, via the Visit Rwanda brand, the country presided over by Paul Kagame hosted the FIA awards ceremony last December and announced in the process its willingness to host the Formula 1.
“I am pleased to officially announce that Rwanda is a candidate to bring the thrill of motorsport back to Africa by hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix,” declared President Paul Kagame at the beginning of the year. Many thanks to Stefano Domenicali and his entire team for the considerable progress made in our discussions so far. (…) Together, we will build something we can be proud of.”
If peace is confirmed, the project could take off again in earnest and mark the return of Formula 1 to Africa, 32 years after its last appearance on the continent, in South Africa, at Kyalami, for a Grand Prix then won by Alain ProstNelson Mandela's country is also a candidate for a return of F1, either on the Kyalami circuit or on a new street circuit in Cape Town. While the 2026 calendar has already been unveiled, Rwanda and South Africa will, in any case, have to wait until 2027 to hope to join the Formula 1 program.
ALSO READ > DR Congo asks F1 not to organize race in Rwanda
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Dodo
01/07/2025 at 04:02 a.m.
Know that Rwanda is a self-respecting country. Stop saying it steals. Where are you when someone steals from you? Leave our president alone.
Herve
30/06/2025 at 09:44 a.m.
So the 12 million dead are resurrected and Kagame didn't kill anyone?
Ntumba Tshiambamba Jose
29/06/2025 at 09:41 a.m.
Please refuse your proposal, no question of friendly relations with greedy people and genocidal thieves, Congo does not belong to anti-values, we are not in the 15th century, so what?
Yves-Henri RANDIER
29/06/2025 at 11:21 a.m.
Peace agreement signed under the aegis of the big Donald, we ask to see especially since the various agreements passed have not been applied and/or respected in this region of the Great Lakes which remains - alas! - a powder keg. It will be interesting to see if Rwanda no longer exports minerals plundered from its Congolese neighbor in the future because it does not have them in its subsoil. F1 would do better to return to South Africa which provides more guarantees and is not subject to sportswashing or blood trafficking!