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Following the wave of democratization that swept the continent in the early nineties, many African countries made considerable progress in liberalizing their political systems and establishing democratic institutions through the early 2000s. However, African democracy has experienced slow growth, stalled progress and, in some instances, backsliding in the past decade. The essay largely attributes this trend to the ambiguous and waning commitment of Africa’s domestic and continental political elite as well as increasingly inauspicious international developments. But it also sees signs of African democracy’s likely survival in the strong and deepening demand for democracy and its associated goods among ordinary citizens.