Time zone · Africa
CAT
Central Africa Time
Central Africa Time (CAT) is a steady, year-round clock for 11 member zones across countries like Malawi, Zimbabwe, and DR Congo. With no daylight saving changes, scheduling across the region stays consistent all year long.
Sunday, May 31, 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) is a steady, year-round clock for 11 member zones across countries like Malawi, Zimbabwe, and DR Congo. With no daylight saving changes, scheduling across the region stays consistent all year long.
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.
10 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 use Central Africa Time?
- Countries on CAT include Malawi, Burundi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Sudan, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Does CAT observe daylight saving time?
- No, Central Africa Time stays the same all year—no clocks move forward or backward anywhere in the region.
- What is the leading representative zone for CAT?
- Blantyre, Malawi, is the representative zone for Central Africa Time.
- Is Central Africa Time the same across all member countries?
- Yes, all 11 member zones share the same offset, so everyone in the region is always on the same time.
- When does the offset change for CAT?
- It never changes—there are no seasonal clock shifts or historical transitions; the offset has been fixed for years.
- How wide is the CAT region geographically?
- The members stretch from Sudan in the north to Zimbabwe in the south, covering much of southern and eastern Africa.
- How is CAT written in the zone database?
- Most member cities file under Africa/* names like Africa/Blantyre and Africa/Harare.
- How does having no DST affect collaboration in CAT?
- It makes cross-border planning simpler—meetings stay at the same local time every day without worrying about seasonal clock changes.
Free · Developer API
Time, as JSON.
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