• Written by Editorial Team
• December 29, 2025
• 4 minutes

From Africa to Asia: The Data Confirms a Historic Economic Power Shift

A $1 TRILLION Shock to the System: The Global South Is Quietly Redrawing the World Economy

AI TV INFO | Global Markets Special | December 29, 2025 — while much of the global conversation remains fixated on slowdown fears, the numbers tell a very different story.

 Record-Breaking Trade Milestone

China Just Did What No Country Has Ever Done

For the first time in history, China’s trade surplus has hit $1 trillion in a single year.
Year-end data released today confirms the figure for the first 11 months of 2025, driven by surging exports to Europe, ASEAN, and Africa, which more than offset softer trade with the United States.

📌 Why it matters:
This milestone signals a structural shift in global trade — away from reliance on one market and toward deepening South–South and multi-polar trade corridors.

🌐 Global Trade Is Exploding — And the Global South Is Leading

According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global trade flows are set to exceed $35 trillion in 2025, up 7% year-on-year — double the pace of 2024.

Key drivers:

• South–South trade acceleration

• The AI and semiconductor boom in Taiwan, Malaysia, and South Korea

• Rising demand from emerging consumer markets

Big takeaway: The world is trading more — and increasingly outside traditional Western-centered routes.

 Strategic Regional Agreements Reshaping Growth

🇪🇬 Egypt–Djibouti Logistics Breakthrough (Dec 28)

Egypt signed three landmark agreements with Djibouti to establish a regional logistics powerhouse, including:

• A new multipurpose container terminal

• A 100 MW green solar project to power port operations

• Long-term land leases enabling Egyptian firms to access East African markets

This positions the Horn of Africa as a critical trade gateway between Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

🇮🇶 UN–Iraq Economic Reset (Dec 26–27)

The UN and Iraq signed the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2025–2029), officially shifting the relationship:

• From political stabilization

• To economic diversification, job creation, and green energy infrastructure

📌 A clear signal that post-conflict economies are entering a growth and investment phase.

Optimism in Economic Forecasts

• Developing Asia growth upgraded to 5.1% (ADB)

• India revised upward to 6.5%, driven by consumption and reforms

• Caucasus & Central Asia lifted to 5.8%, led by Kazakhstan and remittances

• Inflation in developing Asia easing to 1.6%, helped by falling food prices

This combination — higher growth + lower inflation — is rare and powerful.

💱 Markets Are Responding

🇿🇦 South Africa

The rand strengthened sharply as gold and platinum prices hit record highs, boosting:

• Export revenues

• Investor inflows

• Equity market performance

Reuters notes rising confidence in South Africa’s macro fundamentals.

🚆 Africa’s Infrastructure Moment: The Lobito Corridor

Backed by the EU, U.S., and multilateral partners, the Lobito Corridor is moving from vision to execution:

• €2 billion investment push under the EU’s Global Gateway

• Rail, trade, and value-chain integration linking Zambia’s copper belt to Angola’s Atlantic coast

📌 This corridor is expected to create jobs, unlock exports, and reshape regional trade across central and southern Africa.

🏆 UAE: A Global South Growth Champion

In 2025, the United Arab Emirates topped multiple global rankings for:

• Economic competitiveness

• Innovation

• Healthcare

• Human development

A standout example of strategic diversification and long-term planning paying off.

Africa’s Long-Term Growth Surge

The latest World Economic League Table shows major upward momentum:

• Rwanda: +19 places by 2040, with >7% growth through 2030

• Tanzania: +15 spots, driven by mining and infrastructure

• Ethiopia: 7.7% average growth, boosted by industrialization and the GERD hydropower project

• Côte d’Ivoire: Political stability + cocoa and gold exports

• Nigeria, Uganda, Benin: Above pre-pandemic growth, improving inflation, and stronger external balances

South Africa also recorded:

• An S&P credit rating upgrade

• Removal from the FATF grey list

• Gradual recovery in fixed investment

 Latin America’s Turnaround Stories

• Argentina secured strong U.S. backing, including a potential $20B currency swap, supporting falling inflation and rising investor confidence

• Paraguay received a Fitch upgrade to “Positive”, edging closer to investment-grade

• Brazil saw declining inequality, record-low unemployment, real wage growth, and acceleration toward green energy

 Asia’s Economic Engine Is Accelerating

• India posted 8.2% Q2 GDP growth, cut logistics costs, reduced energy prices, and expanded manufacturing

• Taiwan lifted its 2025 GDP forecast to 7.37%, a 15-year high, fueled by AI-driven exports

• Malaysia saw 15.8% import growth in capital goods, signaling future industrial expansion

• A Cambodia–Thailand ceasefire lowered regional risk, improving Southeast Asia’s investment outlook

🧠 AI TV INFO Channel Perspective: Why This Matters

What we’re witnessing isn’t a cycle — it’s a rebalancing.

• Trade is growing faster in the Global South than anywhere else

• Capital is flowing toward infrastructure, energy, and technology

• Inflation is falling while growth accelerates

• Emerging economies are shaping — not following — global trends

The Global South is no longer the world’s “future market.”
It is the world’s growth engine — right now.

📺 AI TV INFO stays ahead of the narrative.