Could Formula 1 find its way back to Africa?
Motorsport
For decades, Africa has been notably absent from the Formula 1 calendar, with only two countries – South Africa and Morocco – having ever hosted races.South Africa held the last African F1 race at the Kyalami circuit in Midrand, Gauteng, in 1993. Despite growing interest in the sport, the continent has been sidelined, largely due to financial constraints and infrastructural challenges.
However, with renewed talks of F1 returning to Africa, countries like Rwanda are pushing forward with plans to host a Grand Prix.
Could Namibia, with its growing tourism sector and potential economic benefits, be a future contender for an F1 race?
F1’s African legacy
Africa's involvement with Formula 1 has been sporadic. Morocco hosted its only F1 race in 1958 at the Ain-Diab Circuit in Casablanca.
South Africa became even more established in the sport, hosting the South African Grand Prix 33 times from 1960 to 1993. The Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg became an iconic venue, but F1 left the continent after the 1993 race, primarily due to economic difficulties and political changes in South Africa.
Money talks
A main factor preventing African countries from hosting F1 races is the high cost involved.
Hosting a Grand Prix can range from US$40 million to US$100 million (N$760 million to N$1.9 billion), depending on infrastructure, logistics, and the fees payable to F1 management for the rights to hold a race.
Most African countries lack the financial capability to fund such an event. Furthermore, the required infrastructure – such as a world-class racetrack, transportation networks, and hospitality facilities – poses a huge challenge.
Yet, South Africa is not alone in the race to host a Grand Prix comeback, as other African countries like Rwanda are emerging.
Rwanda has for quite some time engaged with the top hierarchy of Formula 1 in its quest to organize a Grand Prix in the near future.
Rwandan officials have also developed a strategy to consolidate aviation within the country and therefore have synchronized plans to meet F1 executives.
Rwanda’s proposal is centered on constructing a permanent racetrack and deploying infrastructure to support it, which show the country’s clear intentions of becoming one of the select few countries hosting F1.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has revealed that Rwanda has made an adequate proposal and that more talks will be scheduled over the next months.
Rwanda’s capital Kigali will host the FIA’s Annual General Assembly and prize-giving ceremony this December.
Seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton has spoken in favour of including Africa in the F1 calendar.
"We can't be adding races in other locations and continuing to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world just takes from. No one gives anything to Africa," said Hamilton at the Dutch Grand Prix in August.
Could Namibia enter the chat?
As discussions about bringing F1 back to Africa intensify, the question arises: Could Namibia become a host nation?
While Namibia has never hosted a major motorsport event on the scale of F1, the country’s potential for hosting such an event is based on in political stability and its established tourism sector.
However, Namibia still faces a big challenge renovating its own sport facilities. For instance, lack of upgrades to Windhoek’s Independence Stadium has forced its national football teams to play abroad in all international matches for the last four years.
The estimated cost of renovation of the stadium has been reported to be between N$500 million and N$800 million.