Zambia’s foreign minister Mulambo Haimbe said negotiations with Washington on a proposed $2 billion health‑aid package have stalled. The draft agreement required Zambian data to be shared with U.S. agencies, a clause he called “unconscionable,” and tied the aid to a separate pact granting U.S. firms preferential access to the country’s critical minerals.

Outgoing ambassador Michael Gonzales, in his farewell speech, lambasted what he described as “institutionalized and refined corruption” in Lusaka, a charge Haimbe dismissed as delusional. The row comes as U.S. miner Bold Metals broke ground on a $2.3 billion copper project—the largest in Zambia—while Washington has pledged hundreds of millions for a rail link to Angola’s Lobito port.

Zimbabwe, Ghana and Kenya have already turned down similar U.S. health programs over data‑privacy concerns, underscoring a broader scepticism toward conditional aid. With Zambia accounting for Africa’s second‑largest copper output, the impasse threatens both the health partnership and a pipeline of critical‑mineral investments that could fuel electric‑vehicle supply chains.

Investors monitoring the region now weigh the diplomatic risk against soaring copper prices, which have approached record highs as automakers chase green energy materials. Should the two sides fail to separate health assistance from mineral concessions, Washington could lose a strategic foothold in the Copperbelt, while Zambia might miss out on financing for infrastructure that underpins its export growth.