Lusaka – Zambia said Monday that talks on a US health funding deal have stalled over contentious terms tied to proposed critical minerals agreements and data sharing concerns.
The announcement is the first time the southern African nation has publicly detailed the reasons behind the months-long impasse.
The standoff comes as Washington rolls out a series of tightly controlled health aid deals across Africa after dismantling its USAID agency and scaling back the role of NGOs.
The United States had offered $2 billion in health funding over five years but negotiations were delayed “as a consequence of the incorporation of terms that the Zambian Government considers unacceptable”, Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe said in a statement.
Zambia objected in particular to provisions on data sharing, which it said would violate citizens’ right to privacy.
“Key among the reasons for Zambia’s reluctance to accept the terms of the proposed agreement is the insistence on preferential treatment of US companies over Zambia’s critical minerals,” Haimbe added.
He was responding to remarks by outgoing US ambassador to Lusaka, Michael Gonzales, who raised concerns over the country’s anti-corruption efforts and said talks had stalled since January, citing what he described as a lack of substantive engagement from Zambian officials.
“The assertions by the outgoing ambassador in his statement are deeply regrettable, undiplomatic, and inconsistent with the spirit of mutual respect,” Haimbe said.
The US-Zambia offer was leaked in March by international advocacy NGO Health GAP.
The deal offers $320 million of US funding this year to Zambia’s health sector, which has been weakened by drastic cuts in US aid, according to the document.
The amount is set to decrease annually to reach $112 million in 2030.
By way of comparison, Lusaka received more than $400 million in health sector aid from Washington in 2024, according to the US government website ForeignAssistance.gov, which details Washington’s overseas assistance programmes.
The text also stipulates the offer would be suspended if agreement on a separate and confidential “Bilateral Compact” was not finalised by April 1.
Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer, behind the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the eighth-largest in the world, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Chinese companies have long dominated the copper sector, with major stakes in mines and smelters for the mineral that is essential for power grids, data centres and electric vehicles.
More than a dozen countries have signed the health aid deals with Washington in recent months, including Rwanda, Uganda, Lesotho and Eswatini. Zimbabwe has rejected the offer while Kenya’s is suspended pending legal challenges.
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Source: AFP
