Washington is securing bilateral health deals with countries across Africa to ensure direct access to critical pathogen data and specimens following the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Analysts say the US’ strategic retreat from multilateral organisations has created a vacuum that China is likely to exploit to deepen its influence within global health bodies and position itself as the main partner for the developing world.
Under the “America First Global Health Strategy”, more than a dozen African countries – including Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Rwanda – have signed bilateral agreements to receive health financing from the US in exchange for direct, long-term access to their biological data and pathogen specimens.
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How China is reshaping its economic ties with Africa
How China is reshaping its economic ties with Africa
The deals could replace the dismantled US Agency for International Development (USAID) grant system that provided the essential health response to HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis.
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By replacing traditional aid with this strategy, the US is leveraging essential funding to ensure nations prioritise US national security and the competitive interests of American pharmaceutical companies.
Observers warn that while Washington uses these deals to counter Chinese influence, African nations risk becoming transactional pawns unless they conduct rigorous reviews before signing away access to their most sensitive data.
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M. Oladoyin Odubanjo, executive secretary of the Nigerian Academy of Science, said these arrangements were mainly about control.