The proposed agreement includes unacceptable data-sharing terms and demands for preferential treatment for American companies, the Zambian foreign minister has said<\/p>\n
Zambia has accused the US of attempting to link a proposed health funding agreement to access to its critical minerals, after Washington\u2019s outgoing envoy criticized Lusaka over alleged corruption, poor governance, and lack of engagement with American assistance programs.
\nIn 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\u2019s government had shown \u201ceffectively zero substantive engagement\u201d since January.
\nGonzales also accused Lusaka of refusing \u201cto 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.\u201d\u00a0
\nOn Monday, Zambian Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe denounced the envoy\u2019s comments as \u201cundiplomatic\u201d and inconsistent with relations between sovereign states.
\nHe said while the Lusaka recognizes the need to intensify efforts against corruption in the health and other sectors, it was \u201cmischievous\u201d for Gonzales to imply that the government \u201cis working against the people of Zambia and their best interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE: \u2018Secret\u2019 US health deals in Africa face backlash \u2013 WaPo<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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,\u201d Haimbe said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Ghana rejects US health deal<\/p>\n
The minister said talks on the health agreement stalled because of terms Zambia considers \u201cunacceptable,\u201d including data-sharing provisions that could violate citizens\u2019 privacy rights.
\nThe minister said Zambia also objected to a proposed critical minerals agreement, citing what he described as Washington\u2019s insistence on preferential treatment for US companies.
\n\u201cA 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,\u201d Haimbe said.
\nZambia is one of Africa\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s Africa pivot: Leverage, not generosity<\/p>\n
The dispute comes amid wider resistance in Africa to the Trump administration\u2019s 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\u2019s High Court has also suspended implementation of a similar agreement pending a legal challenge over data protection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The proposed agreement includes unacceptable data-sharing terms and demands for preferential treatment for American companies, the Zambian foreign minister has said Zambia has accused the US of attempting to link…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t