<p>Ports play a vital role in facilitating trade, which leads to improved welfare for consumers and increased returns to factors of production in the private sector. Despite the relevance of port infrastructure in international trade, fundamental structures exist that have the potential to consolidate the gains from this infrastructure. This study investigates the impact of innovation and institutional regulatory quality on the relationship between port infrastructure quality and international trade. To this end, the study adopts the Chamberlin-Heckscher-Ohlin approach, which incorporates tangible and intangible endowments associated with economies of scale theories in explaining international trade flows. Using fixed-effects panel estimates for selected African countries 2011 to 2019, the study finds that port infrastructure quality has a positive but statistically insignificant effect on trade openness once macroeconomic and institutional factors are controlled for, indicating that port improvements alone are insufficient to drive trade expansion. GDP growth and capital investment consistently enhance trade performance, while innovation promotes trade openness independently. Regulatory quality shows a negative direct effect, suggesting that weak or burdensome regulations may act as non-tariff barriers in the African context. However, innovation significantly strengthens the trade-enhancing role of regulatory quality, highlighting the importance of complementary institutional and technological capacities. Policy simulations indicate that improvements in port quality yield only modest and uncertain trade gains, underscoring the need for integrated strategies that combine infrastructure development with institutional reform and innovation support.</p>