Zambia and US sign health memorandum of understanding

Zambia and the United States signed a five-year health cooperation memorandum of understanding valued at roughly three billion dollars according to initial estimates, or approximately 2.4 billion dollars according to a note from the US embassy in Zambia. Washington would contribute 1.5 billion dollars over the next five years, while Zambia si impegna ad aumentare le sue spese sanitarie di 975 milioni di dollari.

The agreement was signed on October 8 at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Lusaka after months of turbulent negotiations. Lusaka had initially refused to make deals with Washington, accusing the US government of demanding indiscriminate access to sensitive data and biological samples of Zambian patients, and of linking the agreement to preferential access to the country’s strategic minerals. Zambia is among the top ten largest copper producers in the world. Zambian authorities stated that all the most critical provisions were removed before the document was signed.

Zambian Executive Refuses to Make Health Agreement Public

The contents of the health agreement will not be made public, and the Zambian executive does not intend to make the text public. This lack of transparency persists despite pressure from local civil society organizations demanding that the document be approved by the National Assembly and its details communicated to the public. According to the judges, a pact still in the negotiation phase could not be examined by Parliament. Josiah Kalala, executive director of the Chapter One Foundation, told the cooperation-focused portal Devex that, now that the agreement has finally been reached, they will ask the government to make its details public. Zambian Health Minister Roma Chilengi was cited by the local newspaper Lusaka Times regarding the figures.

The America First Strategy Context

With this pact with Zambia, Washington continues its international health cooperation policy named the America First Global Health Strategy (AFGHS), stemming from the cooperation vision introduced in January 2025 by President Donald Trump. Agreements under this strategy have been signed with about 35 countries. Other governments, such as Ghana and Zimbabwe, have refused to sign agreements under the AFGHS amid accusations of health neocolonialism and extractivism. Westward, towards Angolan ports, is the Lobito Corridor, financed by the USA, the European Union (including Italy, via the Mattei Plan) and the G7.