ZAMBIA has rejected a US attempt to link health funding to access to critical minerals, with its foreign minister giving the first detailed account of why negotiations over two proposed agreements have stalled.
Citing Mulambo Haimbe, Reuters said the US had offered up to $2bn over five years under a proposed health memorandum of understanding. However, certain data-sharing terms would violate Zambians’ right to privacy, Haimbe is quoted as saying.
A further objection concerned the proposed critical minerals agreement, under which Zambia was reluctant to accept terms that would give US companies preferential treatment, said Reuters.
The core dispute, however, centres on Washington’s insistence that conclusion of the minerals deal be made conditional on agreement of the health MOU. “The Zambian Government has been consistent that the agreements must be considered separately on their respective merits,” Haimbe said.
Haimbe’s statement was issued in response to criticism from outgoing US ambassador Michael Gonzales, who accused Zambia of failing to engage on the health funding offer – a claim Haimbe denied.
Zambia’s position mirrors that of several other African nations. Ghana and Zimbabwe have both rejected similar US health MOUs, which form part of the Trump administration’s revised approach to foreign aid, over concerns about data-sharing requirements, said Reuters. A number of other African countries have signed such agreements, it added.
