Zambia has accused the US of attempting to link a proposed health funding agreement to access to its critical minerals, after Washington’s outgoing envoy criticized Lusaka over alleged corruption, poor governance, and lack of engagement with American assistance programs.
In farewell remarks on April 30, outgoing US Ambassador Michael Gonzales said Washington had offered Zambia more than $2 billion in additional health and economic assistance since October, but claimed the African state’s government had shown “effectively zero substantive engagement” since January.
Gonzales also accused Lusaka of refusing “to stop or take action to hold people accountable for the systematic and nationwide theft of US provided medicines while the Zambian citizens for whom those were intended went without.”
On Monday, Zambian Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe denounced the envoy’s comments as “undiplomatic” and inconsistent with relations between sovereign states.
He said while the Lusaka recognizes the need to intensify efforts against corruption in the health and other sectors, it was “mischievous” for Gonzales to imply that the government “is working against the people of Zambia and their best interests.”
“It must be noted that in terms of the proposed Health MOU by which the US graciously offered support of up to US$2 billion over the next 5 years, the US and Zambia are yet to agree on certain of the terms proposed in the draft MOU,” Haimbe said in a statement.
The minister said talks on the health agreement stalled because of terms Zambia considers “unacceptable,” including data-sharing provisions that could violate citizens’ privacy rights.
The minister said Zambia also objected to a proposed critical minerals agreement, citing what he described as Washington’s insistence on preferential treatment for US companies.
“A further concern by the Zambian Government is the coupling of the proposed agreements and frameworks to one another such that the conclusion of the critical minerals agreement is made conditional to the conclusion of the Health MOU,” Haimbe said.
Zambia is one of Africa’s top copper producers and has attracted growing international interest because of minerals used in electric vehicles, clean-energy technologies, and advanced manufacturing. Haimbe said Lusaka remains open to negotiations with strategic partners, including the US, but only on the basis of mutual benefit and respect.
The dispute comes amid wider resistance in Africa to the Trump administration’s new health cooperation model. Ghana rejected a proposed US health agreement over concerns about data access and sovereignty, while Zimbabwe also turned down a $367 million offer that officials said sought sensitive health information, including virus samples and epidemiological data. Kenya’s High Court has also suspended implementation of a similar agreement pending a legal challenge over data protection.