This bat is broadly distributed across the lowland rainforest and savanna zones of Africa from Senegal in the west, through to South Africa in the south and Ethiopia in the east (possibly ranging into Djibouti and southern Eritrea). It is also present on the extreme southwest Arabian Peninsula, where it has been recorded from Yemen and Saudi Arabia (Harrison and Bates 1991). Populations of this bat occur on several offshore islands including the Gulf of Guinea islands and Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia (off Tanzania) (Bergmans 1990; Simmons 2005). There is a possibly disjunct population in the Air Mountains of Niger. Distribution at northern and southern extremes of the range is patchy and erratic. It is also sparse or absent in large areas of the Horn of Africa, central East Africa, and elsewhere (Bergmans, 1990). This bat is a migratory species in parts of its range; populations migrate from the West African forest north into the savanna zone during the major wet season. It ranges from sea level to around 2,000 m asl (Ruwenzori Mountains).