Rumors has that Africa will have a GP

[ringo]

Tripoli and Morocco I see, as long as it's not in the dessert again.
West Coast Africa would be a refreshing addition to the calender; somewhere lush and green.
F1 goes where the oil money is, and Nigeria seems to be on the up and coming with it's oil wealth.

Nigeria is pretty close to Brazil as well, it's not too out of the way, it could fit in nicely on the callender by the brazil GP or the Indian or Australian, then onto Bahrain. Filling the stands will be interesting, but i believe there are enough people, within and outside of Nigeria who can afford it. Should be way more spectators than the dessert races though.

[andrew]

I read that the average wage in South Africa is about 1620 rand (jusrt under £150 per month). Using the Brazilian GP as an example, the cheapest price I could find is £468 for a weekend pass. Other than a few affluent families and tourists, who can afford this?

But before considering the above (incase I am wrong) where will be money come from?

Nostalga dictates that those that can remember the South African GP want it reinstated. Realisticly, I doubt the country can afford circa £20 million for a new track that'll only have a 3 or 5 year contract.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

The money is there andrew. But its best spent on things that matter! I'm sure if Lotus7 read this he would agree.
Careful, we getting political.

[lotus7]

The money is there andrew. But its best spent on things that matter! I'm sure if Lotus7 read this he would agree.
Careful, we getting political.

Yip, I am reading this . And I agree this is getting political.
But then , in most of the "new" Grands Prix , Bernie has managed to convince the politicians ( read taxpayers) to pay for his excesses .

[Steven]

Once again, this obviously is not a political forum, and given the problems it has caused previously, it is strictly not allowed around here. Any posts off-topic here about Madeira and corruption have been moved to the notorious "off-topic" thread.

Read the rules please.

And to add my 2 cents... I'm all for an African GP if it doesn't take money away from the African people. So I guess I won't be supporting any event like that any time soon...

[ESPImperium]

I have heard a couple of rumors going arround that one of the richer African countries, i think it was Maritius but dont quote me on it, was looking at spending $150M on building a F1 track pretty near to the countrys biggest airport so the access to the track is decent for fans, media and teams to get to.

Infact, it was Maritius, heres what Joe Saward wrote: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/09/ ... good-idea/

It would be cheaper than getting the Olympics for 17 days, spending $10Billion plus. And for arround 5% of that you can have F1 in your country for 3 days each year for arround 10 years, giving your country more money in its economy each year and giving more value for money to the country than a bunch of sports complexes that willnot be used like that again in the near future.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Mauritius does not have the GDP to support such an event ESPI.
Again, if Billionaire turn's up he will make me look a mug, but so far as the state is concerned a GP is about as realistic as Man on the moon in Shorts and Sunglasses.

In addition Joe needs to be taken with a pinch of salt at times, methinks this is one of them.

[ringo]

population of 1.2 million is also not commercially attractive.

[bomz_za]

I'm sure Bernie said if he was going to have a South African GP it would need to be near the coast, ocean backdrop, it's gotta be Cape Town, street race through green point.

[lotus7]

I'm sure Bernie said if he was going to have a South African GP it would need to be near the coast, ocean backdrop, it's gotta be Cape Town, street race through green point.

The Green- and Sea Point rate payers association will not approve of this =D>

[donskar]

Must "African GP" mean "South Africa"? How about Algeria, Morocco, Libya, as examples of North African countries? It is a short hop across the Med from Italy to Libya, for example. And why no race in Greece (I know Greece is not in Africa.)

[Pup]

Must "African GP" mean "South Africa"?

When the only GP proposal is from South Africa? Yes. Besides, North Africa is practically a different continent anyway. Though I'd certainly support a GP there, should one ever be proposed.

I'd love to see a GP in Durban, though I'm not sure about the proposed location - I think they'd be better off using the A1GP street circuit.

Personally, I think the most marketable GP in South Africa would be a Spa-like circuit located either in the Franschhoek area or the rolling countryside of inland Natal. Those areas are strikingly beautiful, and I think it would set the race apart from all the 'me too' marina races we've got now.

[ringo]

Let's forget about south Africa, what happened to central and west africa?
North Africa is basically dessert, and low population; expect a boring GP there.
The Chinese are investing heavily in west Africa, F1 would do well to look to the future and bring the sport and it's brands there.
Nigeria is the next best bet, as i said earlier, the money is there to be spent.

Or is it that the European fans, i'm guessing most of you here, are afraid to go to West Africa for a GP?
There were similar sentiments with the build up towards the south african world cup.
The word Africa tends to stir up thoughts of chaos, malaria and wildness, so i can see why most here ignore what's in the middle of the continent and look to the more seemingly comfortable environments in south africa, or the proximity of the northern
african countries to europe.

North africa is basically a middle eastern GP all over again, i think we have enough of those. South Africa would be very good if the Country can afford it or profit from it.

West Africa is growing and developing, the population is there, and so is the interest with what Europe has to offer.

The only proposal is south Africa, but if Bernie looks around, he should be able to get one else where on the continent, and he can be sure of making lots of money from it.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Ringo

Trust me my friend, you dont want to stage an F1 event in Central Africa. Not yet anyway. The Congo, Sudan etc aren't places you would want to travel through let alone stage a race.
This isn't a slur on the people, just the factions that would want to make a statement to the world when there is a global event there.

West Africa? Cameroon is probably the only place that is stable enough, so that would be a shoe in. Nigeria suffers from alot of terrorism and hijackings in the north, so what applies to Central africa applies to Nigeria.

I'm lucky enough to have been to Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon and Nigeria. As recently as 3 years ago. And there is no way these places could stage an F1 event unless everything is rested from their control and security is controlled by a private firm. That is too expensive, especially for countries with vast debt such as these.

Namibia is a standout country that could stage an F1 race in a secure environment. I lived there for a few years as a teenager in the 90s and its got the resources to do it. The money is also available as China has invested vast amounts of money into the country for all its natural resources(diamonds etc).

And, if they got the setting right it could be the most picturesque F1 venue of all. Beautiful country I will one day retire to

[zeph]

Listen to JET. As an African expat myself I can endorse his POV's. Apart from the security there are additional challenges like infrastructure.

To watch the F1 caravan try to reach a racetrack over African roads would be more entertaining than the race itself.