00:00Formula One is coming to Africa for the first time in more than 30 years after Rwanda was
00:04announced as a Grand Prix venue from the early 2030s. This is a major coup for Rwanda. There
00:10is little doubt that courting international sport is central to promoting Rwanda's regional and
00:14global aspirations, said the Telegraph. The country has already spent more than £190 million
00:20on international standard facilities for athletics, basketball, golf and cricket. And it's working.
00:25Rwanda has hosted the NBA's Basketball Africa League since 2021. And in 2023, it was the
00:31stage for the annual FIFA Congress. Last year, it became the first African nation to host cycling's
00:36road world championships. Yet Rwanda is a political hot potato for international partners with question
00:42marks over its human rights record and allegations of sports washing, said the Telegraph.
00:46Some critics of F1's landmark deal are already calling the sports organizers morally tone
00:51death. Amnesty International has described Rwanda's laws as deliberately exploited to violate human
00:57rights and criminalize criticism of the government. Human Rights Watch says political rivals have
01:02no real chance of gaining power. Paul Kagame has been president since 1994, when he led the Rwandan
01:08Patriotic Front to end the genocide in which 700,000 people were killed over 100 days.
