The contribution of chronic kidney disease (CKD) to the global burden of disease is growing, accounting for an estimated 1.2 million deaths worldwide in 2017.1,2 In the low- and lower-middle-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa, such as Zimbabwe, the burden of CKD is poorly understood, with little data on even the most severe form, kidney failure. This poverty of data was highlighted by the recent Assessment of Global Kidney Health Atlas being unable to report a prevalence of treated kidney failure across most of Africa, including Zimbabwe.