It has been recorded from tropical coastal forest which are being lost as they are converted to agriculture and forests are cut for timber and for firewood for local use.

Kerivoula africana is endemic to eastern Tanzania and is likely restricted to coastal forests and lowland Eastern Arc Mountains, where it has only been recorded from four sites (one regional location), including the “land opposite Zanzibar Island”, Morogoro, the Genda Genda coastal forest, and the Tong'omba coastal forest (Matschie 1895, Swynnerton and Hayman 1951, Cockle et al. 1998). Its area of occupancy (AOO) is estimated to be 16 km² based on these four known sites.

This species has been recorded from Morogoro (presumably within the Morogoro State Forest Reserve) and Genda Genda (possibly in a Forest Reserve). There is a need to prevent further loss of coastal forest habitat. Further studies are needed into the distribution of this species to locate additional populations. Research is also needed into population size and trends, species’ ecology and threats.