HARARE
—
Zimbabwe
has
walked
away
from
a
proposed
$350
million
health
funding
agreement
with
the
United
States,
after
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
personally
directed
his
government
to
discontinue
negotiations
over
what
Harare
describes
as
a
one-sided
deal
that
undermines
the
country’s
sovereignty.
Albert
Chimbindi,
the
secretary
for
foreign
affairs
and
international
trade,
communicated
the
directive
to
the
secretaries
of
finance
and
health
in
a
letter
dated
December
23,
2025,
according
to
a
previously
unreported
document
seen
by
ZimLive.
“The
President
has
directed
that
Zimbabwe
must
discontinue
any
negotiation
with
the
USA
on
the
clearly
lopsided
MoU
that
blatantly
compromises
and
undermines
the
sovereignty
and
independence
of
Zimbabwe
as
a
country,”
the
letter
reads.
The
memorandum
of
understanding
(MoU)
was
being
promoted
by
Washington
as
the
future
framework
for
US
health
support
to
Zimbabwe
under
its
America
First
Global
Health
Strategy
(AFGHS).
But
Harare
found
its
conditions
unacceptable
on
multiple
fronts.
The
US
sought
direct
access
to
Zimbabwe’s
health
data
over
an
agreed
period,
a
provision
Zimbabwean
officials
viewed
as
intelligence
overreach.
The
US
separately
pushed
for
access
to
the
country’s
critical
mineral
resources
as
part
of
the
broader
arrangement.
Zimbabwe
also
objected
on
principle.
Harare
argued
that
signing
a
bilateral
health
agreement
with
Washington
would
be
inconsistent
with
its
commitment
to
multilateralism,
particularly
given
that
the
United
States
had
withdrawn
from
the
World
Health
Organisation
under
the
Donald
Trump
administration.
Entering
into
a
parallel
bilateral
health
architecture,
the
government
reasoned,
would
effectively
legitimise
Washington’s
exit
from
the
global
health
order.
Despite
Zimbabwe’s
resistance,
Washington’s
health
diplomacy
offensive
is
gaining
traction
elsewhere
on
the
continent.
At
least
14
African
countries
have
already
signed
similar
agreements
under
the
AFGHS
framework.
The
rejection
of
the
MoU
comes
as
Zimbabwe
also
faces
the
loss
of
US
humanitarian
funding.
A
year
after
Trump
began
dismantling
USAID,
which
had
funded
programmes
in
Zimbabwe
including
the
provision
of
HIV
medicines,
his
administration
is
now
initiating
a
new
round
of
significant
cuts
to
foreign
assistance.
An
internal
State
Department
email,
reported
by
The
Atlantic,
said
the
US
will
soon
end
all
humanitarian
funding
currently
provided
to
seven
African
nations,
including
Zimbabwe,
as
part
of
a
“responsible
exit,”
with
funding
in
nine
others
to
be
redirected.
Aid
programmes
in
all
of
these
countries,
previously
up
for
renewal
through
the
end
of
September,
will
instead
be
allowed
to
expire,
each
of
them
classified
as
lifesaving
by
the
Trump
administration’s
own
standards.
A
February
12
email
to
officials
in
the
State
Department’s
Bureau
of
African
Affairs
said
the
projects
in
Burkina
Faso,
Cameroon,
Malawi,
Mali,
Niger,
Somalia
and
Zimbabwe
are
being
cancelled
because
“there
is
no
strong
nexus
between
the
humanitarian
response
and
US
national
interests.”
The
US
Embassy
in
Harare
had
not
responded
to
a
request
for
comment
at
the
time
of
publication.