Over the past 15 months, Zambia has faced an unusually concentrated run of pressure from Washington. Together, the episodes describe a relationship that has shifted from routine partnership to open friction. It wasn’t always this way. When Hichilema won power in 2021, Biden praised Zambia by name at the UN General Assembly for its democratic […]

Over the past 15 months, Zambia has faced an unusually concentrated run of pressure from Washington.

Together, the episodes describe a relationship that has shifted from routine partnership to open friction.

It wasn’t always this way. When Hichilema won power in 2021, Biden praised Zambia by name at the UN General Assembly for its democratic breakthrough. Kamala Harris visited Lusaka in 2023, announcing a $16 million grant.

Zambia co-hosted the global Summit for Democracy. For years, Washington held Zambia up as a model.

It started with visas. In August 2025, Zambia and Malawi became the only two countries required to post bonds of up to $15,000 for US tourist visas, a programme that has since grown to 50 countries and just became permanent, with the cap now $20,000. Critics say Zambia’s overstay numbers were too small to explain being picked first.

Then came a $50 million aid cut in May 2025, after the US said nearly half of 2,000 Zambian pharmacies inspected were selling stolen donor medicines.

The biggest flashpoint: a proposed $2 billion US health deal that tied funding to preferential access to Zambia’s copper, cobalt and lithium. Zambia’s Foreign Minister called the terms “unacceptable” and talks stalled past an April 2026 deadline.

The outgoing US ambassador capped it off by publicly telling Zambia it needs “leaders with integrity” more than money, criticism Zambia’s government called “mischievous.”

Some of this fits a wider pattern across Africa under Trump’s more transactional aid approach. But the concentration of friction landing on Zambia specifically, and Washington’s own inconsistent explanations for it, remain unanswered questions.

Read the full story on our website: muvitv.com/why-has-the-us-turned-against-zambia