Lagos – Ghana has ended talks for a multi-year aid deal with the United States after Washington demanded access to citizens’ personal data, a source close to the West African nation’s government has told AFP.
The United States has been striking new health aid deals across Africa after the administration of US President Donald Trump dismantled the long-standing USAID agency and curtailed the role of NGOs.
It was unclear what the proposed Ghana funding deal specifically covered, or what the personal data relates to.
“The deal is dead,” the source said this week, noting that Ghana’s negotiating team included health officials, suggesting it may have been partly tied to health.
The US team became “hostile” and piled on “pressure” after Ghana pushed back on the demand for personal data, the source told AFP.
Specific areas of focus
A spokesman for Ghana’s health ministry did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
The deal would have provided Ghana $109 million in funding for five years, according to the source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, without confirming the specific areas of focus of the proposal.
A spokesperson told AFP in an emailed statement that the US State Department “does not disclose the details of ongoing bilateral negotiations” and suggested the funding would have supported “fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases”.
The funding offered to the west African nation was far less than the $2.5 billion and $2.1 billion offered to Kenya and Nigeria respectively.
At least 32 such deals worth about $20.6 billion under the America First Global Health Strategy had been signed as of Monday, according to the US State Department.
More than a dozen African countries have signed on, including Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Lesotho and Eswatini.
Zimbabwe rejected a similar proposal in February, saying the terms threatened its autonomy. Zambia followed suit in March.
Visa restrictions
Kenya’s deal – the first of such bilateral agreements – was suspended by a court a week after it was signed in December over concerns about sharing personal data.
Relations between Accra and Washington had been cordial in recent months.
They received a boost after Ghana signed a deal in September to receive West Africans deported from the United States, with Washington reversing its visa restrictions – put in place in June – on Ghanaians.
Washington also rolled back the 15-percent tariff imposed on Ghana’s cocoa and agricultural exports in November.
Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, relies heavily on export revenues to stabilise its currency and finance public spending.
The US disbursed some $219.4 million and $138.5 million to Ghana in 2024 and 2025 respectively to fund agriculture, health and other projects, according to ForeignAssistance.gov.
“We continue to look for ways to strengthen the bilateral partnership between our two countries,” the US State Department said.
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Source: AFP
