I revisit my motivating question, "What explains the timing and scale of Africa’s third wave of protests?" and summarize my answer: The third wave started when members of a new middle class launched opposition movements; it intensified when poor citizens joined protests for predominantly economic reasons. I discuss policy implications and recommend ways for the concepts of generals and foot soldiers of the revolution to advance future research on protests in Africa and beyond. The narrative of a Sub-Saharan African Spring appeals to policymakers in "the West" who hope citizens can safeguard young African democracies. However, donors hesitate to finance social movements for fear of destabilizing politics or even triggering a coup d’état. As a result, development policy is too risk averse, occurring mostly through states and their proxies. I recommend that donors be more open to supporting non-state agents of positive change such as protesters. This would be consistent with existing initiatives to empower grassroots actors, considering the high involvement of ordinary citizens in African social movements.