Zambia Blasts the US Over a $2 Billion Health Deal in Exchange for Critical Minerals

The United States is restructuring its foreign aid approach in Africa under the Trump administration's "America First" policy, replacing traditional programs like PEPFAR with transactional bilateral agreements that tie health funding to conditions including access to sensitive health data, biological samples, and commercial provisions. Zambia's foreign affairs minister has publicly accused the U.S. of linking a $2 billion health assistance deal to preferential access to the country's critical minerals, while the outgoing U.S. ambassador has countered by alleging corruption and government inaction. Several African nations, including Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Kenya, have either rejected proposed deals or put them on hold due to concerns about data privacy, lack of guarantees for accessing vaccines or treatments developed from shared data, and insufficient transparency in closed-door negotiations.