1808-1843: Following the British withdrawal from the slave trade, the traffic at Old Calabar declined even more rapidly than at the neighboring port of Bonny.

1808-1843: Following the British withdrawal from the slave trade, the traffic at Old Calabar declined even more rapidly than at the neighboring port of Bonny. This period saw a significant diversification in the range of ports where slaving vessels were outfitted and the American destinations to which captives were taken. The resident Efik traders increasingly turned their attention to the export of palm oil as the trans-Atlantic slave trade faced growing international suppression. Eventually, the palm oil trade became more economically valuable to the region than the trafficking of human beings.