U.S. Commits $1.3 Billion To Tanzania’s Health Sector Under New Five-Year Partnership

The United States has signed a five-year health partnership with Tanzania that will see more than $1.3 billion invested in the country’s healthcare sector, marking the latest agreement under Washington’s efforts to reshape its global health assistance strategy.

The memorandum of understanding, signed on Wednesday, forms part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First Global Health Strategy,” an initiative aimed at helping developing nations build more self-sustaining healthcare systems as the United States scales back traditional foreign aid programmes.

Under the agreement, the United States will invest more than $1.3 billion in Tanzania’s health sector over the next five years, while the Tanzanian government has pledged to contribute $1.8 billion during the same period, according to the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania.

In a statement, the embassy said the joint investment demonstrates both countries’ commitment to strengthening healthcare systems, preventing the spread of infectious diseases, and improving Tanzania’s ability to finance and manage essential health services independently over the long term.

The deal follows similar agreements the United States has signed with several African countries, including Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda, as Washington shifts its approach from direct aid to long-term partnerships focused on local capacity building.

However, comparable agreements elsewhere on the continent have generated debate over provisions reportedly linked to access to strategic minerals, health data and biological samples.

In Zambia, authorities rejected proposals that would tie a health partnership to U.S. access to the country’s mineral resources. In Kenya, a court suspended part of a similar agreement in December while it considers a lawsuit filed by a consumer rights organisation over concerns about data privacy.

Tanzanian officials sought to address similar concerns during the signing ceremony, insisting the new agreement does not require the country to share biological or laboratory specimens with the United States.

Health Minister Mohamed Mchengerwa said Tanzania had not signed any specimen-sharing arrangement, adding that all laboratory samples—including those collected during disease outbreaks, epidemics or potential pandemics—would remain within the country.

He said Tanzania would continue to test, store and manage all such specimens under its own national systems, reaffirming the government’s commitment to maintaining full control over the country’s health data and biological materials.

The agreement represents one of the largest health investment commitments announced between the United States and Tanzania in recent years and underscores growing cooperation between the two countries in strengthening healthcare delivery and disease preparedness.