This article examines the impact of the third wave of democratisation on economic performance in sub-Saharan Africa. It starts by assessing the extent of democratisation in the region, and concludes that political reforms have resulted in the routinisation of multiparty elections, but that political competition remains imperfect and that only a few countries could qualify as ‘liberal’ democracies. The article then examines the economic performance of African countries during the 1990s. It finds no significant differences across regime types or across time. The region's political changes have not yet had a lasting impact on the region's economics. This suggests that important institutional continuities mark the region's political dynamics. The article concludes by examining these continuities.