Machine learning, a field of artificial intelligence application, will profoundly impact countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the next few decades. The extent of the impact will depend largely on the countries’ readiness. Roadmaps and research agendas towards implementing machine learning for development (ML4D) exist, but little is known about the state of ML4D research in sub-Saharan Africa. Guided by an existing ML4D roadmap, we conducted a critical literature review on selected research publications papers published from 2010 to 2021 with the aim of describing the status of SSA ML publications and informing future research. This should be of interest to researchers and funding organizations investigating the potential impact of ML4D projects in the SSA region.