Biopiracy; The “America First” strategy

When U.S. aid froze in January 2025, African health systems teetered. When it returned in September, it came with a price tag nobody expected.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is racing across the continent securing bilateral health deals. Kenya: $2.5 billion. Rwanda, Uganda $2.3 billion, Lesotho. The pitch? Pandemic preparedness. The fine print? 25-year access to African pathogen genetics, disease data, and population health records.

It's asset acquisition.

The U.S. bypassed the WHO to isolate vulnerable nations one by one, capitalizing on financial desperation to build data pipelines without global equity mandates. No patent-sharing requirements. No royalty frameworks. Just vague promises to "negotiate benefits later."
Here's what's at stake: In the age of AI-driven drug discovery and CRISPR gene editing, biological data is the new crude oil. Once African genomic data trains American biotech models, the value transfer is permanent. The U.S. gets breakthrough pharmaceuticals. Africa gets dashboards.

Kenya saw the trap. After the Consumer Federation filed suit, Justice Mwamuye issued an injunction blocking the deal and placing criminal liability on any official who facilitates the data transfer. The ruling echoed what 51 African nations said at the WHO: sharing data must guarantee sharing the cure and the profits.

But the damage is spreading. These agreements contain hidden coercion: restrict data flow and the U.S. restricts funding. Leaders are forced to trade long-term sovereignty just to keep hospitals running today.

Over 50 civil society organizations have sounded the alarm. By accepting "capacity building" instead of ownership, Africa risks handing over the keys to the next century of medicine.

Zimbabwe put it plainly at the WHO: equity cannot be negotiated after extraction has already occurred.

Kenya's resistance proves sovereignty can be reclaimed when societies stay vigilant. But with data already flowing from Uganda, Rwanda, and Lesotho, the question remains: will the rest of the continent follow suit or watch the heist unfold?

Genuine liberation requires generative sovereignty. The power to create and build, not just permission to be extracted from.