There is this fascination about football and particular the premier league in Kenya among Kenyan men of all ages and to some extend *their girlfriends* who are in pursuit of different agenda not football. But, there is also much liking for two other sports (Formula one and Rugby)among the growing populace of Nairobi's middle class. This got me me thinking as F1 and ManUtd vs Fulham game was screened live simultaneously of different channels on DSTV........ What if as part of vision 2030 we have a world class auto-racing circuit somewhere in the vicinity on Nairobi perhaps on this stretch of land along Mombasa road between JKIA and Daystar University.
I think it will be the first in the continent and will be dominated by foreign drivers but this will be good for the economy. It may be a wild dream but thinking out of the box is what will propel us to a developed country status.

...just wondering; dont they have this in SA? but yes we can.

@BGL....the land where MISC sits was donated by the kenyatta family. To the east of that stadium lies a stretch of huge land that was once grabbed but later reclaimed after mama ngina threatened to take it back. My sources had it that the initial plans for MISC included having an F1 circuit on that tract of land.

What we should be asking is "where did that money go to?" if that were the case??

Or can the land be availed for the same original purpose and funds be availed??

It will cost a minimum Shs. 20 b to put up such a circuit. Is this our priority? How do you recover such money from the poor kenyans? Do you have an idea of the price of watching one formula1 race?

20b at 75/= is USD 266m which is not an earth-stopping amount in the international sporting circuits. Na ulitoa wapi hii figure BTW?

Even in Kenya it is possible to finance such a facility - for instance seek the sponsorship of high profile companies with international stature in return for exclusive advertising rights at the track for a negotiated period of say like 2 yrs. So, once the business case built shows such a facility is viable,approach both onshore and offshore corporate sponsors - kina Safcom, Emirates, EABL, Virgin Atlantic, PHB Bank Group,etc for sponsorship and you should be in business. Of course the all impt. clincher would be in getting your races to count towards FIA Formula World Championship. Traditionally Europe was the epicentre of Grand Prix but now events are being held world over including the Far East na pia Asia, so there's a chance....
Can Kenyans afford - yes they can, a good number at least given the emergence of a strong middle class who are starved of real events (hence kossiping in pars!)and such a sport would be expected to attract fans from not just Ug & Tz but the wider Great Lakes region and even Africa if well marketed.

Kenyans are very ambitious. It would be difficult to compete with emerging markets especially far-east for inclusion in the F1 calendar.
However, if granted the benefit to the economy can be marvellous.
We need to sort out the basic infrastructure of our country first. BTW did you see the Airbus A380 flying low above the Bahrain circuit just before the race? FYI A380s can't land in our JKIA...........

good idea - but maybe start small - a simple circuit where amateurs can pay a fee to race against each other - classify cars by engine size and let all the wanna be drivers take on each other....like NASCAR....have about 20 races per day on weekends....great opportunity for advertising/sponsorships....maybe have a professional category as the finale of the day (night).....

This would pip even horse racing as a spectator sport...participation would be really high....everyone who feels his or her car is the est, would have a chance to do so.


F1? Nope - not gonna happen here.....not this century anyway

Give Sub Saharan Africa at least 1 more century(South of Sahara,North of Limpopo)