E1 powerboat championship makes historic African debut in Lagos

The E1 World Championship, an all-electric powerboat racing series, goes to Africa for the first time this weekend with a race in the bustling Nigerian metropolis of Lagos.

The E1 Lagos Grand Prix – the penultimate round of the season after Monaco – will take place on Lagos's Five Cowrie Creek, featuring nine teams, ahead of the season finale in Miami later this year.

"This marks E1's first race on the African continent," organisers E1 said Tuesday. Competitions have been held globally in iconic cities such as Jeddah, Doha, Monaco and Miami.

Organisers and the Lagos state government said Tuesday that Ivory Coast football legend and a Uefa Champions League winner Didier Drogba and his partner Gabrielle Lemaire were instrumental in bringing the race to the continent for the first time.

Drogba and Lemaire are among the several global celebrities who own E1 teams. Other notable owners include American basketball great LeBron James and Grand Slam tennis champion Rafael Nadal.

"Bringing E1 to Africa represents a pivotal moment in our mission to grow electric racing globally," said Rodi Basso, founder and CEO of E1.

Lagos, known for its vibrant entertainment scene, "brings incredible energy, creativity and ambition that matches E1's DNA perfectly," Basso said.

Commissioner for Information and Strategy for the Lagos government, Gbenga Omotoso, told AFP that the decision to bring the race to the buzzing mega-city of more than 20 million people was taken in Monaco after the Lagos State governor watched the race there.

"Drogba's team came to us around March and proposed to us to have this championship," said Omotoso.

Drogba is expected to attend the race weekend, organisers said.

"It's the first time that the power boat E1 series is coming to Africa and Lagos is very proud to be the very first host of the race," he told AFP, adding it's "history".

Blackouts are common in Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, where dilapidated infrastructure often fails.

Omotoso stressed: "There won't be any power failure, I can assure you".

In preparation for the race, the government has cleaned the coastal city's massive lagoon of plastic and other waste, and barricaded off 28 sites where waste would ordinarily seep through, Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, the general manager of Lagos State Waterways Authority, told AFP.