Zambia agrees health deal with US after resolving dispute
Zambia has signed a $1.5 billion health financing agreement with the US after successfully negotiating the removal of controversial data-sharing and biological specimen clauses. The deal is part of the Trump administration's 'America First Global Health Strategy'.
Why it matters
The agreement highlights a shift in US global health diplomacy and demonstrates a rare instance of an African nation successfully pushing back against US-imposed conditions for aid.
Zambia signed a $1.5 billion health financing agreement with the US after separating it from a critical minerals deal that is still being negotiated. The health pact had been jeopardized by privacy concerns over sharing citizens’ data.
Zambia is among several African countries that have signed bilateral health deals under the Trump administration’s America First Global Health Strategy, but Africa’s second largest copper producer stands out for having publicly resisted key provisions and winning changes.
Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe said at the signing ceremony that the two memorandums of understanding “ needed to be decoupled and this has been done .”
Washington said the deal was worth $2.49 billion , with Zambia committing $975 million in “new funding” and the US putting up $1.5 billion.
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