Zambia is negotiating a separate critical minerals agreement with the United States after successfully separating the discussions from a new US health funding deal.
Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe confirmed that the two agreements had been “decoupled” during the signing of a health pact that will provide Zambia with $1.5 billion (about R26.7 billion) in US funding.
“There was this (Memorandum of Understanding) on health and another on critical minerals, and we were saying that these need to be decoupled, and this has been done,” Haimbe said.
The critical minerals agreement is still being negotiated, although the minister did not provide details about its terms or which minerals could be involved.
Zambia had previously resisted proposals that could have linked US health-sector funding to increased American access to its mineral resources.
The negotiations are significant because Zambia is one of Africa’s major mineral producers and is Sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest copper producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The country is also seeking to play a bigger role in the global critical minerals supply chain as demand for minerals used in technologies such as electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy continues to grow.
The final terms of the US-Zambia minerals deal could therefore have major implications for Zambia’s mining sector and its position in the global minerals market.
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