According to Reuters<\/em>, the U.S. had disbursed up to $219 million in foreign assistance to the West African country, including $96 million specifically for health in 2024. This was the year before the Donald Trump administration began cuts to foreign aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The agreements reportedly raised questions about data privacy and who gets to control Ghana\u2019s data. According to AP, Arnold Kavaarpuo, the executive director of Ghana\u2019s Data Protection Commission, the deal included provisions that would have allowed U The approach, if followed, would run contrary to the country\u2019s domestic laws, including its Public Health Act. Ghana\u2019s Data Protection Act (2012), Section 18 (1), emphasises that \u201cA person who processes personal data shall ensure that the personal data is processed without infringing the privacy rights of the data subject; in a lawful manner; and in a reasonable manner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The scope of the data access that was requested under the deal \u201cwent far beyond what would typically be required,\u201d Kavaarpuo, whose agency was directly involved in the talks, told AP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He cited a clause where individuals could be singled out for the provision of sensitive health data. \u201cThat, in effect, was outsourcing the health data architecture of the country to a foreign body,\u201d he said. \u201cThe proposed data sharing agreement looked at access not only to health data sets, but also to metadata, dashboards, reporting tools, data models and data dictionaries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to him, the proposals would also have allowed up to 10 U.S. entities access to such data with no prior approval needed from Ghana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe did not get a sense that Ghana had any real governance oversight when it came to how the data was going to be utilised. It was more or less that if they undertook an exercise, they would notify the country. So, it was not a prior approval arrangement,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey were pretty normal dealings and negotiations in the beginning, and then increasingly there was a lot more pressure, especially at the end,\u201d a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also told Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Washington had set April 24 as the deadline to conclude the negotiations, but Accra decided it could not agree to what was being proposed, Reuters<\/em> gathered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A U.S. State Department spokesperson told AP that the department does not disclose details of bilateral negotiations. \u201cWe continue to look for ways to strengthen the bilateral partnership between our two countries,\u201d the spokesperson said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Ghana\u2019s data protection boss, Kavaarpuo, stated that the country communicated its decision to reject the proposal to the U.S. and sought improved conditions for a better deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the U.S. overhaul of its foreign aid system, the country\u2019s health support to African nations has increasingly shifted to a bilateral, mutually conditional framework under the \u201cAmerica First Global Health Strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Health funding for African governments under the Trump administration is now increasingly conditional. According to AP<\/em>, the approach, introduced late last year, replaces health agreements previously made under the now-dismantled United States Agency for International Development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supporters within the U.S. government say the new model pushes partner countries towards self-reliance, but critics question accountability, data protection and continued U.S. influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike Ghana, where the deal was not actualised, the U.S. government has signed health deals with at least 14 African countries, according to Digital Health Africa<\/em>, which cited U.S. data. Parts of the agreements reflect the Trump administration\u2019s interests and priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the countries which signed the deals were those worst hit by the massive U.S. aid cuts after years of reliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AP reported that Nigeria, Africa\u2019s most populous country, reached an agreement emphasising Christian-based health facilities. Rwanda and Uganda also signed the deals, while some agreements, including those with Rwanda and C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, included provisions for private U.S. sector investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cameroon, Eswatini, Lesotho, Liberia and Mozambique are also among those that have signed health deals with the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the Center for Global Development, a Washington think tank, the deals \u201ccombine U.S. funding reductions, ambitious co-financing expectations, and a shift toward direct government-to-government assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deals represent a reduction in total U.S. health spending for each country, the center said, with annual U.S. financial support down 49 per cent compared with 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, some countries have also kicked. Like Ghana, the countries are treating the U.S. strategy with suspicion. DW<\/em> reported in February that Zimbabwe rejected a similar proposal, saying the terms threatened its autonomy, while a deal with Zambia did not move forward after Washington demanded access to mineral rights and data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. said it would wind down health assistance to Zimbabwe after negotiations collapsed. It had offered $367 million over five years to support the African country\u2019s priority health programmes, including HIV\/AIDS treatment and prevention, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, and disease outbreak preparedness, the U.S. embassy in Zimbabwe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will now turn to the difficult and regrettable task of winding down our health assistance in Zimbabwe,\u201d U.S. Ambassador Pamela Tremont said, adding that Zimbabwe had indicated it was prepared to continue its HIV response independently. \u201cWe wish them well,\u201d she added, according to AP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Authorities in Zimbabwe argued that the funding proposal carried conditions they could not accept. The decision was driven by concerns over data-sharing, fairness, sovereignty, and Washington\u2019s broader shift away from global health institutions, government spokesperson Nick Mangwana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mangwana stressed that the U.S. proposal was tied to \u201ccomprehensive access to Zimbabwe\u2019s sensitive health data, including virus samples and epidemiological information from our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said President Emmerson Mnangagwa directed that negotiations be terminated because the U.S. was not offering a \u201ccorresponding guarantee of access to any medical innovations – such as vaccines, diagnostics, or treatments – that might result from that shared data.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe United States was not offering reciprocal sharing of its own epidemiological data with our health authorities,\u201d Mangwana added. \u201cIn essence, our nation would provide the raw materials for scientific discovery without any assurance that the end products would be accessible to our people should a future health crisis emerge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zimbabwe\u2019s College of Public Health Physicians, however, urged continued talks, citing the need for continued funding for \u201ccritical components\u201d of Zimbabwe\u2019s public health system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In December 2025, a Kenyan court suspended the implementation of a \u201clandmark\u201d $2.5bn (\u00a31.9bn) health aid deal earlier signed with the U.S. over data privacy concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the BBC, this followed a case filed by a consumer rights body seeking to stop the alleged transfer and sharing of Kenyans\u2019 personal data under the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The interim ruling barred Kenyan authorities from taking any steps to put the deal into practice \u201cinsofar as it provides for or facilitates the transfer, sharing or dissemination of medical, epidemiological or sensitive personal health data.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the ruling did not suspend Kenya\u2019s partnerships with the U.S. Health Minister Aden Duale said Kenya would comply with the court\u2019s ruling, but that the government would challenge it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe note that the current conservatory orders are specific to the sharing of data and do not suspend the broader partnership,\u201d Duale added in a statement. The Kenyan deal with the U.S. is still under legal review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ghana is now at the centre of a blueprint aimed at empowering countries in the Global South to end their dependence on international health aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Health Policy Watch<\/em>, the blueprint was launched by the Accra Reset on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA national reset without a global reset leaves us building on shifting sand,\u201d Ghanaian President Mahama told a gathering at an event to celebrate the first anniversary of the Accra Reset. \u201cLikewise, a global reset without domestic discipline is unfeasible. They are two sides of the same coin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mahama initiated the Accra Reset a year ago when he convened a meeting of African leaders in the country\u2019s capital to respond to the massive cuts to health aid implemented by the Trump administration. It has evolved into a global platform pushing for the reform of global health and aid institutions, based on empowering countries and regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Reset\u2019s plan, A Sovereign Future For Health, recognises that external financing for health in Africa has fallen by almost 70 per cent between 2021 and 2025; hence, the need for a reset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor many countries in the Global South, the abrupt changes in the global health financing system require rapid response and adjustments that their fiscal structures are not able to accommodate in the short term,\u201d it notes, according to Health Policy Watch.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The report outlines several steps to empower aid-reliant countries, starting with \u201cone-stop country compacts\u201d jointly led by the Ministries of Health, Finance and Planning, and including local stakeholders and \u201crestructured\u201d international partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mahama stressed that meaningful country sovereignty requires accountable governance, not simply the transfer of decision-making power from international institutions to national authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nana Ensaw, the municipal director of health for Akuapim North, said Ghana should use the funding shock to rethink how it pays for healthcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Ghana Medical Trust Fund, or MahamaCares, is already expanding access to specialised care,\u201d Ensaw said, according to Al Jazeera<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe private sector must also step up. With the right partnerships, Ghana can become a medical tourism hub by investing in diagnostics, telemedicine and specialist care. Banks and financial institutions have a critical role to play. They must support these health tourism initiatives with tailored financing packages to attract more players into the sector. We have the talent and the will. Now we need the investment to match.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like some other African nations, Ghana\u2019s rejection of the U.S. health deal raises broader ethical questions on whether foreign aid to the continent should be structured to reflect a balance between international interests and a country’s public health needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zimbabwean authorities, for instance, see the new U.S. bilateral model as \u201ca departure from multilateral frameworks.\u201d For them, virus data with pandemic potential should be shared exclusively through the World Health Organisation\u2019s system. \u201cThis system is designed to ensure that when a country contributes its data, the benefits – including vaccines and treatments – are shared equitably, not commercialised exclusively by those with the resources to develop them,\u201d Spokesperson Mangwana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Democracy Centre for Transparency, a Europe-based research entity, noted that the decision by Ghana to reject the deal \u201chelped to underpin the principle that external support should not reshape domestic priorities but align itself with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the organisation, Ghana\u2019s position indicates a larger trend of African states that have started to reevaluate the conditions of international health agreements. In April 2026, Ghana walked away from $109 million in U.S. support for its health sector, becoming the latest African country to reject a proposed U.S. health deal. The country joined other governments on the continent that have raised concerns over provisions reportedly requiring the sharing of sensitive health data. The deal hit a stumbling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":8663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,30,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-governance","category-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8547"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8688,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8547\/revisions\/8688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What really informed Ghana\u2019s withdrawal?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
.<\/del>S.<\/del> entities access to Ghana\u2019s sensitive health data without necessary safeguards.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSimilar deals in other African countries<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GGSH-1024x722.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nKenya suspends deal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Accra\u2019s reset after \u2018dead\u2019 deal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/del><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"