Port history describes AIS-derived activity. Border history describes periodic loaded-truck surveys. Neither dataset is a live operating-status feed.
What the history panel contains
Supply Chain keeps climate, port activity and border surveys in one evidence timeline because each can affect sourcing and transport planning. The datasets remain separate: they measure different things, update at different intervals and cannot be combined into a single corridor risk score.
Port activity covers the eight configured seaports. Border surveys cover Noé–Elubo, Aflao–Kodjoviakopé, Noépé–Akanu, Hillacondji–Sanvee Condji and Sèmè–Kraké. The two Ghana–Togo crossings are distinct records.
How to read port activity history
PortWatch derives daily vessel calls and estimated shipment volume from satellite AIS data. ATI groups those daily observations into calendar months. The line is average observed vessel calls per day; the bars are summed estimated import and export tonnes for observed days. The latest partial month is labelled with its observed-day count.
The figures are experimental activity estimates and can be revised when AIS coverage or methodology changes. They are not customs trade statistics, commodity-specific cargo, congestion, berth occupancy, dwell time, container ETAs or vessel tracking.
On the map, each port’s signal compares its average vessel calls over the latest 30 days with the same calendar window in 2021–2025. A port that opened during that period is compared only from its first full year of operation: Lekki, which opened in 2023, from 2024. NORMAL, WATCH and ALERT are ATI screening tiers at 25% and 50% above or below that baseline. A port whose traffic has grown or fallen steadily can sit above or below its baseline in an ordinary week, so check the history before reading a tier as a surge or a disruption.
Source documentation: IMF PortWatch methodology ↗IMF working paper on PortWatch data ↗
How to read border survey history
The Abidjan–Lagos Corridor Organisation reports crossing time for loaded goods trucks by direction. ATI transcribes Table 9 in hours. Direction matters because export, transfer and import procedures differ on either side of a border.
The chart shows the published 2011–2018 and 2023–2024 observations and leaves 2019–2022 empty. Noépé–Akanu has only a 2024 observation in the reviewed table. Lines stop across missing years rather than suggesting a measured trend.
These values describe sampled trucks during a collection period. They are not live queues, current opening hours or a guaranteed crossing time. Customs regime, documentation, system outages and the sampled truck mix can materially change the result.
Source documentation: ALCO 2024 transport indicators report ↗
How to use the history responsibly
Use port history to identify sustained changes in vessel activity, then verify the cause with the port authority, tool operator or freight partner. A rise may be a cargo surge or recovery; a fall may reflect disruption, demand or AIS coverage.
Use border surveys to understand structural and directional friction, then confirm current conditions with customs, a broker or a transporter before routing a shipment. Do not treat the latest survey year as today’s queue.