Time zone · Africa
CAT
Central Africa Time
Central Africa Time (CAT) covers a broad swathe of southeastern Africa, offering a steady clock across busy capitals like Harare, Khartoum, and Kigali without the seasonal shifts that complicate schedules elsewhere; that fixed, two-hours-ahead-of-UTC rhythm means meetings, markets, and flights stay predictable year-round.
Friday, June 5, 2026
Current offset
UTC+02:00
Standard · CAT
Daylight saving
Not observed
Year-round standard time
IANA zones
11
None observe daylight saving
DST offset
—
No summer variant
About CAT
A fixed, year-round offset.
Central Africa Time (CAT) covers a broad swathe of southeastern Africa, offering a steady clock across busy capitals like Harare, Khartoum, and Kigali without the seasonal shifts that complicate schedules elsewhere; that fixed, two-hours-ahead-of-UTC rhythm means meetings, markets, and flights stay predictable year-round.
IANA zones · the technical identifiers
The 11 zones that resolve to CAT.
For software, always store the IANA identifier — never the abbreviation alone. The database keeps these zones distinct because their rules can, and historically did, diverge.
Cities currently on CAT
The same hour, city by city.
29 cities · all UTC+02:00
Where CAT is used
11 countries.
Same offset · UTC+02:00
Other zones at UTC+02:00 right now.
These named zones share CAT's offset today. When daylight saving rules differ, they drift apart for part of the year.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about CAT, daylight saving, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Which countries and regions officially use Central Africa Time?
- Eleven African cities observe CAT, including Blantyre (Malawi), Bujumbura (Burundi), Gaborone (Botswana), Harare (Zimbabwe), Juba (South Sudan), Khartoum (Sudan), Kigali (Rwanda), and Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Does Central Africa Time change for daylight saving?
- No entire CAT region stays on the same offset all year, so residents never need to adjust clocks and international collaborators skip the biannual reshuffle.
- What is the origin of Central Africa Time?
- CAT evolved from colonial-era railway and telegraph schedules and remained fixed at UTC+02:00 long after independence, making it one of Africa’s enduring standard-time references.
- Is Central Africa Time the same as Central European Time?
- No—those two designations sound similar but are different concepts; Central African clocks run two hours ahead of UTC, versus Western/Central Europe’s seasonal UTC+01:00 and UTC+02:00 rules.
- What are the business and travel benefits of living in CAT?
- Hotels, flights, and cross-border traders between countries like Malawi, Botswana, Rwanda, and the DRC can plan without seasonal time conflicts, simplifying logistics and pricing.
- Which large countries span multiple time zones instead of staying in CAT?
- The DR Congo stretches across CAT (Lubumbashi) and West Africa Time (Kinshasa), while South Sudan and Sudan use CAT or WAT, showing how colonial and political lines split regional clocks.
- Can a country leave or join Central Africa Time?
- Yes—national time zones are legal fictions; a legislature can, and sometimes does, shift its capital’s clocks for energy, trade, or sovereignty reasons, though CAT members today prefer stability.
- How does Central Africa Time compare to other African zones like EAT or WAT?
- EAT is one hour ahead and WAT one hour behind; East African capitals use daylight-free schedules similar to CAT, but North African countries near the Mediterranean often observe European-style DST.
- What should visitors know before traveling across CAT countries?
- Pack seasonal clothing for the tropics, not clock changes—business hours, meal times, and transport schedules run uniformly across Malawi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and their neighbors.
Free · Developer API
Time, as JSON.
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