The proposed critical minerals agreement contained in the Washington health deal with Zambia has been rejected by the African county, with its government clarifying its opposition, reports Reuters.
Zambia’s Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe said the United States had offered health support of up to $2bn over the next five years but that some of the terms regarding data-sharing would violate Zambians’ right to privacy. Additionally, Zambia had objections to the content of a proposed critical minerals agreement.
“A further concern… 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,” Haimbe said in a statement.
“The Zambian Government has been consistent that the agreements must be considered separately on their respective merits,” he added.
He did not specify what health data the US was asking for.
On the critical minerals agreement, he said Zambia was reluctant to accept the terms due to an insistence on preferential treatment for US companies.
Health advocates had warned that the proposed health deal linked the money to mining access and brought data-sharing risks, but Zambia’s government previously said only that parts of it were not aligned with the country’s interests.
The statement from Haimbe was issued in response to criticism from outgoing US Ambassador Michael Gonzales, who accused Zambia of failing to engage on the health funding offer, which Haimbe has denied.
Reuters article – Zambia says US health deal must be uncoupled from minerals access (Open access)
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