President John Dramani Mahama has explained why Ghana rejected a proposed US health agreement intended to replace funding previously provided through USAID, saying Cabinet concluded the terms were incompatible with the country’s sovereignty.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on September 25, 2026, Mahama said the proposal was reviewed by the Ministry of Health before being presented to Cabinet. He said officials raised concerns over provisions requiring Ghana to share its pathogen profile and medical records, contribute domestic funding, and allow imported medicines and medical products to bypass inspection by the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority.
“I mean, it was humiliating,” Mahama said, adding that the proposal was “thrown out in record time” and that Ghana informed the US ambassador it would not participate. He said: “We didn’t need it. We’ll manage ourselves.”
The proposed agreement reportedly would have provided around US$109 million over five years as part of the United States’ new bilateral health assistance strategy, introduced following reductions in traditional USAID programmes.
The decision comes as Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria have signed health agreements with the US, while other African countries, including Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia, have raised concerns over issues including health data sharing, pathogen access, regulatory oversight and national sovereignty.
ℹ️ Council on Foreign Relations
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