Zimbabwe Rejects African Countries' Health Deal with US

By Amanuel Janberu
Published on 02/26/26

Zimbabwe has rejected a $376 million health deal with the United States over sensitive information it is seeking to protect.

Zimbabwe’s decision comes after a leaked government memo in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the deal was biased in favor of the United States.

Government spokesman Nick Mnangagwa said the deal would allow the United States to share health samples for research and commercial purposes, but would not share them for future vaccines and medicines.

The US will be forced to cut off health aid to Zimbabwe as a result, the US ambassador to the country, Pamela Tremont, said in a statement.

The US has provided more than $1.9 billion in health aid to Zimbabwe over the past two years, the embassy said.

The new system, introduced in the wake of President Trump’s changes to U.S. aid, allows countries to share sensitive health data with the United States in exchange for varying levels of aid.

So far, 16 African countries, including Ethiopia, have signed the agreement, worth more than $18 billion, but questions are being raised about the data being shared and the benefits the countries will receive.

The agreement was blocked by the country’s highest court after rights groups in Kenya, which had previously signed the agreement, filed a lawsuit alleging that citizens’ personal health data was being shared with the United States.