US seeks Zambia minerals in exchange of health funding, report says

A stalled US funding offer to Zambia made public this week reveals demands by Washington for access to minerals and data.

President Donald Trump's administration has finalised health aid deals with around a dozen African countries after dismantling the USAID agency and curtailing the role of NGOs.

While countries like Rwanda, Uganda, Lesotho and Eswatini have signed on, Zimbabwe has rejected the offer while Kenya's is suspended pending legal challenges.

The US-Zambia offer was leaked on Tuesday by international advocacy NGO Health Gap which said it has been stalled since December.

'Mineral wealth'

The deal offers $320 million of US funding this year to Zambia's health sector, according to the document. The amount is set to decrease annually to reach $112 million in 2030.

The text also stipulates the offer would be suspended if agreement on a separate and confidential "Bilateral Compact" was not finalised by April 1.

The US embassy in Lusaka said in December the overall plan, including the compact, "aims to unlock a substantial grant package of US support in exchange for collaboration in the mining sector and clear business sector reforms."

It "explicitly" ties acquisition of "mineral wealth" with health funding, said Health Gap, which has been working with Zambian activists to fight the terms of the deal.

US denies exploiting Zambia

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 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.

The US State Department did not directly confirm that the leaked memorandum was authentic but did not deny it either.

"We are not seeking anything at Zambia's expense or against Zambia's laws or interests, quite the opposite," a spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.

"These reforms are critical to ensure that the value of Zambia's mineral wealth flows to the Zambian people, and not predatory external actors."