The United States’ New Health Deals in Africa
By VIP News
The United States has introduced a new wave of multi-year health agreements with several African governments, signaling a shift in how Washington structures health cooperation on the continent. The agreements are framed as bilateral Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) that outline priority health areas, indicative U.S. funding levels, and domestic co-financing commitments by partner countries. They operate alongside existing programs such as PEPFAR but place greater emphasis on negotiated, country-specific frameworks, shared financial responsibility, and performance monitoring.
According to public fact sheets and media reporting, the MOUs typically run for around five years and cover areas including HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, maternal and child health, and disease surveillance and preparedness. Public examples include a Uganda framework describing up to approximately 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. health support the United States intends to provide over five years, alongside more than 500 million U.S. dollars in planned increases to domestic health spending. In Nigeria, reporting describes a fiveyear package totaling about 5.1 billion U.S. dollars in combined health spending, including roughly 2.1 billion U.S. dollars the United States intends to provide and nearly 3 billion U.S. dollars in domestic commitments, making it the largest arrangement announced so far.
Under the agreements, partner governments commit to specified increases in national health spending, with public documentation and reporting indicating that, in some cases, including Nigeria, domestic contributions are projected to exceed the U.S. share over the life of the framework. Public descriptions also indicate that the MOUs include performance indicators and periodic reviews, and that U.S. support may be reviewed or adjusted based on implementation and broader policy considerations.
In Kenya, according to court filings and media reports, a High Court has temporarily suspended implementation of parts of a U.S.–Kenya health cooperation agreement, specifically blocking provisions involving the transfer or sharing of sensitive health data while a dataprivacy case proceeds. Analysts note that the co-financing model is emerging amid pressure on foreign aid budgets and ongoing debate over how essential health services will be financed if traditional grant-style support declines, making implementation and fiscal follow-through central to the agreements’ long-term impact.
Wire disclaimer: This analysis is based on publicly available government statements and media reporting; funding figures cited are indicative and subject to change.
