WASHINGTON — The United States and Nigeria have signed a five-year bilateral agreement valued at nearly $2.1 billion aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s health system, signalling improving diplomatic engagement between both countries.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said on Saturday that the deal would support efforts to prevent and treat HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and polio, while also improving maternal and child health services across Nigeria.
Under the agreement, Nigeria is expected to increase its own national health spending by almost $3 billion over the same five-year period. The State Department noted that the partnership places strong emphasis on supporting faith-based health care providers, particularly Christian-run institutions.
The agreement comes amid heightened attention by the US government to religious freedom concerns in Nigeria. Last month, President Donald Trump sparked controversy after suggesting on social media that the United States could take military action to address the killing of Christians in the country.
Trump has repeatedly warned that Christianity faces what he described as an “existential threat” in Nigeria and other parts of the world, citing what his administration views as widespread persecution of Christians.
As part of this posture, Washington has returned Nigeria to its list of countries of “particular concern” over religious freedom and has also imposed restrictions on the issuance of US visas to Nigerians.
According to the State Department, the newly signed health agreement was negotiated alongside reforms undertaken by the Nigerian government aimed at strengthening protections for Christian communities affected by violence.
Nigeria, which is almost evenly divided between a predominantly Christian south and a largely Muslim north, has consistently denied tolerating religious persecution. The country has faced a prolonged jihadist insurgency since 2009, a conflict that has claimed at least 40,000 lives, both Christians and Muslims, and displaced about two million people, according to United Nations estimates.
The Nigeria agreement follows a similar move earlier in December, when the United States signed a $2.5 billion health aid deal with Kenya, marking one of the first major bilateral health partnerships since President Trump dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and reduced the role of non-governmental organisations.
Since returning to office, Trump has shut down USAID — previously the world’s largest aid agency — and ordered a restructuring of US foreign assistance in line with his administration’s “America First” policy agenda.
