The United States has signed a series of health agreements with African nations, bringing the total value of bilateral deals under President Donald Trump’s administration since withdrawing from the World Health Organisation to more than $16 billion.
The latest pact, a five-year agreement with the Ivory Coast, is valued at over $480 million, according to Bloomberg.
Trump has signed health agreements with more than a dozen African countries, including Kenya and Nigeria.
Nigeria signed the largest “America First” health agreement to date: a five-year $5.1 billion pact, with roughly $3 billion committed by Abuja and $2.1 billion from the United States. The latest pact, a five-year agreement with Ivory Coast, is valued at over $480 million, the US embassy in Abidjan said in a statement on Tuesday.
While these deals are designed to strengthen health systems across the continent, they have sparked concerns over data privacy and the potential weakening of global cooperation.
In Kenya, a court temporarily froze a $2.5 billion agreement, instructing the government not to share medical, epidemiological, or other sensitive personal health data with the United States.
Shift toward co-investment
Business Insider Africa recently reported that the United States signed four new Global Health Cooperation Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with Ethiopia, Botswana, Sierra Leone, and Madagascar.
These agreements, concluded on December 22 and 23, are valued at nearly $2.3 billion, with the U.S. committing about $1.4 billion and the four African governments jointly providing more than $900 million.
U.S. officials describe the structure as a decisive shift away from traditional aid toward co-investment, accountability, and national ownership.
The move follows Washington’s earlier decision under Trump to scale back conventional foreign aid in Africa after criticism that U.S. taxpayer funds were supporting systems that never became self-sustaining.
