Congolese politician Therese Kayikwamba Wagner expresses her “concern” and tries to prevent Formula 1 from holding a Grand Prix in Rwanda
Formula 1 wants to return to Africa and has set its sights on Rwanda as a potential venue for the next Grand Prix on African soil. But now resistance is emerging from neighboring countries: Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has written to Formula One to express her “concern” about the plans in Rwanda.
Why is she concerned about the negotiations between Formula 1 and Rwanda? The politician explains: “Rwanda, in collaboration with its proxy group M23, is currently occupying a large part of the eastern territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo, displacing over 700,000 Congolese citizens in the process.”
“Does Formula One really want to tarnish its reputation with a blood-stained connection to Rwanda? While I applaud Formula One’s desire to stage a Grand Prix in Africa, I question whether Rwanda is the best choice to represent our continent.”
Wagner concludes her remarks with a clear demand to Formula One: “Stop the negotiations and exclude Rwanda as a potential venue.”
How Formula One responds to this criticism
Formula One only indirectly addresses this demand in a statement: “We are closely monitoring developments in relation to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda and will continue to do so.”
There are still “requests from various regions of the world” for Formula One races, the racing series continues. “We carefully consider each potential request, and future decisions will be based on full information and the best interests of our sport and our values.”
The German Foreign Office issues a travel warning
This “complete information” could also include assessments from third countries such as Germany. The German Foreign Office, for example, has issued a clear travel warning – albeit for the Democratic Republic of Congo and with the note: “German citizens are requested to leave the country [in certain provinces].”
For Rwanda, the Foreign Office only advises against traveling “to the northern border region with the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Travelers should be “particularly attentive and careful” in this region, as the security situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the border with Rwanda, has recently “deteriorated further.”
Rwanda was already the location for the FIA gala in 2024
The planned location for the race track, which has yet to be built, is near Rwanda’s capital Kigali and thus a good hundred kilometers from the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kigali has already hosted a major event of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) in December 2024: the annual FIA gala, at which the top finishers in the FIA championships received their trophies.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame was in the front row. He and his counterpart Felix Tshisekedi in the Democratic Republic of Congo are both accused of increasingly authoritarian rule in their countries.
And the relationship between the neighboring states continues to deteriorate: at the end of January 2025, the Democratic Republic of Congo broke off diplomatic relations with Rwanda.
“Good progress” for Formula 1 in Rwanda
Regardless of the political situation, Kagame officially presented Rwanda’s plans for a Formula One race in December. He thanked Stefano Domenicali and his team for the “good progress in the talks so far” and emphasized: “We are handling this opportunity with appropriate seriousness and determination.”
Meanwhile, South Africa is also looking into the idea of hosting a Formula One Grand Prix. The government recently launched a tender for this, in which the former Formula One race track in Kyalami, among others, has participated.
