The Kivu African Climbing Mouse is recorded in central and eastern Africa. Some taxonomic treatments recognize the Kivu population as a separate species.
In a comparison with Dendromus mesomelas, the upperparts are described as dark tawny and the underside as dark grayish white.
In Rwanda's Nyungwe National Park it was recorded in a swamp in 2009 and near a wetland edge toward forest at Kamiranzovu in 2021. Records are sparse, so its detailed behavior is not known.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.