ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — In a significant shift from traditional aid models, the United States has entered into a comprehensive health agreement with Ivory Coast, pledging $480 million to bolster the West African nation’s healthcare infrastructure. The pact, signed Tuesday in Abidjan, represents the latest in a series of “America First” global health funding agreements initiated by the Trump administration.
The bilateral agreement focuses on critical health priorities including HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, malaria control, maternal and child health services, and global health security preparedness. This partnership requires Ivory Coast to contribute approximately 163 billion CFA francs ($292 million) by 2030, representing 60% of the total commitment, demonstrating a shared financial responsibility model.
U.S. Ambassador Jessica Davis Ba characterized the agreement as marking “a new phase” in bilateral relations, emphasizing the transition “beyond the traditional aid approach toward a model focused on trade, innovation, and shared prosperity.” The arrangement replaces previous health agreements administered through the now-dismantled United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which had invested $115 million in Ivory Coast supporting health, education, and refugee assistance programs.
This development occurs against the backdrop of substantial U.S. aid reductions that have significantly impacted health systems across developing nations, particularly in Africa where many countries historically depended on American funding for essential disease response programs. The new approach aligns with the Trump administration’s transactional foreign policy philosophy, seeking to eliminate what it perceives as ideological bias and inefficiency in international assistance while promoting national self-sufficiency.