My take on Rwanda's F1 deal Congratulations to Rwanda. Yesterday's confirmation of a 10-year Formula 1 deal, bringing the African Grand Prix to Bugesera in the early 2030s, is a big moment for Africa and East Africa. Rwanda has been deliberate: a clear vision, one accountable institution, and years of hosting big events. Credit where it's due. But while we applaud the headlines, let's not miss what is growing quietly next door. Zanzibar is an outlier on its own. Only those close to the industry are really seeing it. Volume In 2025 Zanzibar received 917,167 international visitors, up nearly 25%, almost all of them holidaymakers arriving by air. Rwanda counted 1.49 million visitors, but a large share were regional travellers crossing by road. Value Tanzania's national visitor survey puts Zanzibar's 2025 tourism earnings at about $1.19 billion. Rwanda earned $685 million. That works out to roughly $1,800 per visitor in Zanzibar against about $460 in Rwanda. The two surveys count differently, but the gap is too wide to be a rounding error. Momentum 2026 is stronger still. August set an all-time monthly record of 124,481 visitors, with beds about 93% full. January to August is up 10.6% to 633,228. At this pace, Zanzibar crosses one million arrivals in a year for the first time. Access Zanzibar's airport handled about 2.7 million passengers last year and now has 28 airlines flying direct to 44 destinations. Kigali has about 10 airlines and 21 destinations. Kigali's limit isn't the size of its airport. Airlines go where the demand is, and right now the demand is in Zanzibar. This year alone Zanzibar added Airlink from Johannesburg and Cape Town and EgyptAir from Cairo, and it is building a second terminal to keep up. Product Zanzibar has moved upmarket. Sixteen empty islets have been leased for luxury resorts. Bawe is already open with 70 private-pool villas, and more are under construction. Hilton, Anantara, Riu and TUI are expanding. Spending All of this happened without shirt deals with Arsenal, PSG or Bayern. Yes, Zanzibar is investing in the Fumba stadium, but that is a venue for a real event, AFCON 2027, just as Rwanda is building a track for F1. A sleeve sponsorship is advertising. A stadium is an asset that hosts people. If Zanzibar had spent on PR what Rwanda has, we'd be having a different conversation. Sometimes we get lost in the PR. On results, Zanzibar is at par with Rwanda, and on key measures it is ahead. The honest distinction Rwanda has built a brand and an events machine. Zanzibar has built volume and value. Each has what the other lacks. Zanzibar is highly seasonal: April had about 38,000 visitors against August's 124,000. Rwanda uses conferences and events to fill its calendar, hosting 165 international meetings last year worth about $95 million. That is the lesson we should copy. Our weak months are exactly where events belong. Scale Zanzibar is only part of the picture. Tanzania as a whole earned $4.41 billion from 2.29 million visitors in 2025. Rwanda is adding one premium event to its calendar. We already have the beach, the bush and the mountain. Where F1 fits We should complement Rwanda, not compete with it. The F1 crowd travels by private jet and superyacht. Rwanda is landlocked, and Kigali alone can't house or park everyone. Zanzibar has the beds, the airport and the ocean, and RwandAir already flies direct between Kigali and Zanzibar. Picture a guest who stays on a yacht or in a villa in Zanzibar, flies to Kigali for race weekend, returns to the island, and finishes in the Serengeti or on Kilimanjaro. They stay longer, spend more, and the whole region wins. What we must do 1. Build a proper superyacht marina and cruise terminal. 2. Build event capacity for the low season. 3. Get our tourism boards at the table with Rwanda's RDB now, not in 2031. Rwanda is building the race. Tanzania already has the rest of the trip. Congratulate, complement, and capture the value.