Zambia rejects reported US Aid pressure linked to critical minerals
Zambian commentators are calling for a faster push toward economic self-reliance after reports that the United States considered using aid as leverage in talks linked to Zambia’s critical minerals, a claim that Washington has publicly disputed.
The dispute centres on reporting that US officials weighed cutting or withholding parts of Zambia’s HIV assistance as a negotiating tactic to secure stronger access to minerals used in global supply chains, including copper and other strategic inputs.
In Lusaka, HIV advocate Dora Sakala described the row as a “wake-up call”, arguing that Zambia must stop exporting raw resources and start building local value chains. “We export [copper] in raw material, and then they sell it back to us at a higher price… But why can’t we do all this on our own?” she told Viory, calling for Zambia to generate more income domestically.
Political scientist Musiyani Sichone said the confrontation reflects intensifying great-power competition over Africa’s resource base. He argued that Zambia has become “a battleground between the West and the East”, with China already deeply embedded in the mining sector and the US now trying to regain ground, increasingly through deals that appear more transactional than before.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
