Key Minerals in Africa: The U.S. Aims to Push Out China — Zambia Rejects U.S. Demand for Priority Mining Rights
The Zambian government this week rejected a proposal from the U.S. government that linked medical aid to mining rights. After the Trump administration froze foreign aid at the beginning of this year, it presented conditional aid packages to multiple African countries, with conditions including data openness and granting U.S. companies priority access to energy and mineral development.
Zambia is one of the world’s major producers of copper and cobalt—both essential raw materials for today’s new energy development. Chinese enterprises currently hold a dominant global position in this field. This is why the U.S. government has demanded that American companies be granted priority rights to extract minerals from resource-rich nations such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). However, unlike the DRC, Zambia has refused the U.S. request. Why did Zambia say no to the Trump administration? Especially considering that just months ago, in March, Zambia announced its welcome of investments from around the world to achieve its goal of increasing copper output from nearly one million tons by 2025 to three million tons by 2031.
The Trump administration had previously proposed a new U.S. medical aid plan to many African nations. This new initiative involves multiple aspects. We need to clarify exactly what the plan entails. In Zambia’s case, the U.S. offered funding—such as $2 billion. However, this money would not be directly allocated to countries for public procurement. Instead, it would be used to fund U.S.-based healthcare companies. These companies would then provide services to African nations in exchange for payment. Of course, these services are not free. In fact, the Americans are essentially saying: "We’ll fund U.S. companies coming to partner with you, but you’re obligated to purchase a range of healthcare-related products and services exclusively from them."
Additionally, the demand for giving U.S. companies priority access to key mineral extraction in Zambia means requiring Zambia to terminate several ongoing agreements with other partners. That is precisely why Zambia refused. It is not that Zambia intentionally challenges the Trump administration; rather, the Zambian government genuinely cannot accept such terms. The $2 billion pales into insignificance compared to the risks Zambia faces.
The U.S. government convened leaders from various nations, particularly African and European heads of state, to discuss how to better secure the use of its mineral resources. The Americans’ approach was truly disastrous. They simply told Africans: "Stay calm—we’ll come and take what we need, push out the Chinese, and then you’ll see how well we do." This is clearly hard to believe.
Source: rfi
Original: toutiao.com/article/1864677865966603/
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