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For African states’ democratic governance is fundamental for developmental and political discourse while sustainable development is also critical for the continent. Owing to the uneven developmental and historical backgrounds of the African states and democratic deficits it is unclear if sustainable development is achievable ahead of democracy. This study is informed by the constructivist/interpretivist concern as a research philosophy grounded on text and content analysis to identify the nexus between development and democracy on the trail of Africa’s development agenda. While some scholars believe the two are interdependent others claim that the two are independent hence one can be achieved in the absence of the other. Africa should strive to strike a balance between the two as they are not mutually exclusive although it is democracy that should take centre stage. There is a challenge of achieving twin goals in the absence of a blueprint through being robustly innovative.