The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has explained why Ghana turned down a proposed $300 million health agreement with the United States.
The Executive Director of the Commission, Dr. Arnold Kavaarpuo, said a technical review showed that the deal violated Ghana’s Data Protection Act.
He pointed to issues around informed consent and data minimisation as key concerns.
He also warned that the agreement could have exposed sensitive personal information to serious risks.
According to him, DNA data could have ended up in the hands of foreign pharmaceutical companies using artificial intelligence and machine learning tools.
“When you look at it, it might look like a noble idea, but you have to look at it from a broader scheme. One of the first things that Africa had was the natural resources of the continent. We have a lot of natural resources. And then the next big thing that we tend to have is in terms of the data.
“And when you look at the continent of Africa, Africa has a very youthful population. And so naturally, you are going to have a lot of these youths becoming the bulk of the population of the world. So when we outsource that information into jurisdictions that we do not control, the risk is that the core DNA markers of our population will now be in the hands of foreigners,” Dr. Kavaarpuo.
A Reuters report said the agreement formed part of the United States’ “America First Global Health Strategy”. The policy, introduced under the Trump administration, aimed to reshape foreign aid and push partner countries to take more responsibility for fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and polio.
Negotiations for the deal started in November 2025. The proposed arrangement would have provided Ghana with about $109 million in U.S. health support over five years.
However, talks collapsed after Ghanaian authorities raised concerns. They objected to clauses that required the sharing of sensitive national health data, which they considered unacceptable under local regulations.
