This study addresses the role of various political leadership approaches to informing sustainable development in Africa using comparative case studies of Rwanda and Botswana. It uses critical comparative case studies of government types—Rwanda's technocractic centralism and Botswana's democratic consensus—to compare core development achievements such as economic growth, social well-being, and resilience of institutions. Rwanda under Paul Kagame has pursued a model of centralized, highperforming governance with high macroeconomic performance as expressed through mean GDP growth rates of 7–8% during the past decade (World Bank, 2023). This has been balanced with improvements in health, education, and gender equality. All have been at the expense of draconian constraints to political freedoms and freedom of the press (Freedom House, 2023). Meanwhile, Botswana's liberal democracy built around free elections and high anti-corruption levels has been followed by high life expectancy and literacy rates (UNDP, 2022), balanced by responsibly managing revenue from the extraction of minerals. Botswana still grapples with income inequality and economic dependence on the extractive sector (Molutsi, 2014). Utilizing qualitative comparative data and secondary data, we examine the role of various leadership patterns and governance modalities in impacting sustainable development pathways. We find that whilst leadership is fundamental, sustainable success is ultimately contingent on institutional maturity, vision-oriented policy-making, and adaptive governance. This study contributes to the existing literature in the area of African development by creating a nuanced understanding of the complex relationship between political leadership frameworks and sustainable development outcomes, with policy reform implications for the continent at large.