By Taonga Mitimingi | Updated on Oct 08, 2026 at 01:43 PM
Zambia and the US are discussing a separate critical-minerals framework that isn’t part of a health and data-sharing agreement signed by the two countries on Thursday, the southern African nation’s foreign minister said.
The two issues had previously been linked, but Zambia asked the US to separate the negotiations, Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe said after the signing ceremony in Lusaka, the capital.
“What had been the position previously was that the two were coupled, and we as a government requested that we decouple the conversation on critical minerals on the one hand and the health MoU on the other,” Haimbe said. “This has been done following our extensive consultation with each other and in keeping with how friends deal with matters and how partners deal with matters.”
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In May, Haimbe said talks with the US over the health-aid deal stalled because the proposed accord included data sharing that would violate citizens’ privacy rights and was conditional on first agreeing to preferential access to mineral resources. At the time, he said it was concerning that the health pact depended on the governments signing a critical minerals agreement favoring US companies.
“There is no connection currently between the MoU signing, the health MoU signing, and questions relating to our engagement as two partners in the critical-minerals space,” he said.
US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Mich Coker said the agreement was solely focused on health.
“This agreement is entirely about health outcomes, health financing and health systems strengthening, period,” Coker said. “There is nothing at all in this agreement anywhere that speaks to critical minerals, that speaks to any commercial matter or commercial arrangement whatsoever.”
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Under the five-year agreement, the US will commit more than $1.5 billion, while Zambia will contribute $975 million, bringing the two governments’ combined commitments to about $2.5 billion as new spending.
Zambian officials have also cited a figure of $3.6 billion in connection with the agreement, but that represents total health spending rather than the new commitments under the pact.
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