Central Africa Time (CAT) is a time zone two hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), written as UTC+02:00. It is used in many countries located in central, eastern, and southern Africa.

CAT does not observe seasonal changes—there is no daylight saving time added or removed. It therefore remains at UTC+02:00 year-round, which makes it consistent to compare with Europe's time zone, which changes seasonally each year.

Countries that use CAT

Countries using CAT include Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Burundi, Rwanda, and part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (specifically the eastern part, while the western part uses West Africa Time UTC+01:00). Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, and Niger also use a time based on UTC+02:00, though their official time zone names differ.

UncertaintyThe list of countries and official time zone names changes over time—for example, Sudan and some Sahel countries have changed their time in recent years. Current information should be verified through an official source such as the IANA Time Zone Database.

Relationship to other time zones

CAT (UTC+02:00) is one hour behind West Africa Time (WAT, UTC+01:00) and one hour ahead of East Africa Time (EAT, UTC+03:00). Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania are in EAT, so when Mogadishu is 12:00, Lusaka and Harare are 11:00.

NoteThe name 'Central Africa Time' does not mean that all countries geographically located in central Africa use it. Some central African countries, such as Cameroon and Gabon, are on WAT.

Use in computing

Computer systems recognize CAT using identifiers such as 'Africa/Harare', 'Africa/Lusaka', 'Africa/Maputo', and 'Africa/Kigali'. Most of these identifiers share the same data, as there are few significant historical differences between them. Data is stored in the IANA Time Zone Database, which is regularly updated.

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